HONG KONG conceded their Davis Cup semi-final tie to Thailand, who yesterday took a winning 3-0 lead after winning the doubles clash in straight sets at the Hua Mark sports complex.
For a brief period in the first set, there was a slight hint that Hong Kong's Stephen So and Graeme Foster may extend the territory's hopes in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group Two tie for at least another day.
But Thailand's experienced pair of Narathorn Srichaphan and Vittaya Samrej prevailed 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 as the Hong Kong players struggled with the heat and rock music which blared from a weekend holiday carnival 20 metres away.
Although well beaten by a better team, there was frustration that the Hong Kong players did not play to their full potential.
John Hui and Pang Lui were not at their best in losing their singles matches on Friday, while yesterday, So and Foster failed to build on a good start.
They matched their opponents shot for shot until 5-5 in the first set when the Thais went into overdrive with penetrating groundstrokes to break Hong Kong to love.
Hong Kong's service game fell apart after that as Thailand wrapped up the match in a little under two hours.
