Chan claws way back to earn shot at top seed

HONGKONG'S teenage sensation Willy Chan Lee continued her remarkable start to her career on the professional circuit by reaching the semi-finals of the US$10,000 Brunei satellite yesterday.

The 15-year-old Hongkong number one saved a match point before wearing down South Korea's Kim Soo-mi, the number three seed, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Chan, a semi-finalist in her only other professional tournament in last November's Bangkok satellite, where she lost to Kim, will meet top seed Suvimol Duangchan, of Thailand, today for a place in the final.

Coach Mark Bailey was thrilled with Chan's success over Kim, ranked 484 in the world.

He said: ''She was match point down, trailing 4-5 and 40-30 in the second set on Kim's serve, but she came back and was by far the fitter player in the third set.'' ''She played really positively and knew she just had to stay in there, despite the very hot conditions.

''She stuck to the game plan and kept smacking them from the baseline.

''Her opponent was a spent force, while she was very strong in the third set.'' Chan, who has dominated women's tennis in the territory, is required to compete in one more professional tournament before she qualifies to receive a ranking from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

''She should get half a bonus point for beating somebody among the world's top 500,'' Bailey said. ''She has made a tremendous start.'' Duangchan has had a trouble-free passage to the semi-finals and will be tough to beat.

''Duangchan's has a big forehand and Willy will be concentrating on her backhand,'' Bailey said.

''I don't think we will bother to change our strategy because she has been doing very well so far.'' Unheralded Chan had earlier beaten highly-regarded Filipina Francesca L'Oa in a second round upset ''She had a day's rest before meeting Kim and hopefully she will continue to play well in the semi-finals,'' Bailey said.