Top 10 ranking women tennis players of the world, led by Romanian Simona Halep, ranked No. 1 in the world, along with Kristyna Pliskova, Jelena Ostapenko, and Johanna Conan, are preparing to visit Thailand next week to enjoy a fascinating activities while they promote the city of Hua Hin, Thailand, for the upcoming spectacular tennis event, the “Intercontinental World Tennis Thailand Championship 2017”, at True Arena Tennis Court, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, held during 23rd – 24th December 2017. The tournament will be broadcast live around the world, as well as offer ticket sales to allow tennis fans to watch the exciting matches in person.

Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop, former Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the event, presided over the press conference and select the matches for the Intercontinental World Tennis Thailand Championship 2017 at the InterContinental Hotel Bangkok on 13th December 2017. Four of the world’s top women tennis players will join the tournament, led by Simona Halep, Romanian, ranked No. 1 in the world, along with Czech player, Kristyna Pliskova, the world’s fourth best; Jelena Ostapenko, holding 7th place in the world, from Latvia; and Johanna Conan, ranked 9th in the world and from the United Kingdom, at the True Arena Tennis Court, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop observed that this press conference marks the second stage in the progress of the competition, presenting the selection of the tournament’s matches and including details of activities as well as the arrival program of the four tennis players in Thailand. Jelena Ostapenko will be the first arrival, on 19th December at 07:25 hrs on FIN Air flight AY141. On the same day at 17:55 hrs, Johanna Conan will via Emirates Airlines flight EK418. Then on 21st December, Simona Halep will arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 14:50 hrs with Turkish Airlines Flight TK068, and on 22nd December Kristyna Pliskova will arrive in Thailand at 12:05 hrs with Emirates Airlines Flight EK384. All of them will be staying at the Intercontinental Hua Hin Resort, Prachuapkhirikhan, Thailand.

The Chairman of the Advisory Board of the event, Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop, also commented that during their stay in Hua Hin, all of the tennis players will be participating in various activities which will promote Hua Hin and tourism to Thailand. On 22nd December at 11:30 hrs, they will take part in a Thai cooking class. During the evening at 19:30 hrs, the four tennis players will also attend the press conference in the InterContinental Hua Hin Resort ballroom, and enjoy a welcome dinner at the same location.

On 23rd December at 07:30 hrs, the tennis players will be attending the morning ritual and make an offering of food to local monks at the beachfront of the InterContinental Hua Hin Resort. After this, they will share the first light of day together and this image will be published around the world. At 10:00 hrs, everyone will join the youth tennis practice clinic at True Tennis Arena Hua Hin. Then, the tournament will begin at the SCB Center Court. The opening ceremony will be held at 18:00 hrs, with a welcome and delivery of flowers for all four of the Top 10 world-ranking tennis players, followed by the start of the competition at 18:30 hrs.
On 24th December at 10:00 hrs, the four tennis players will visit Vana Nava Hua Hin water park and later enjoy the splendid view of Hua Hin from the Vana Nava Sky Bar and Restaurant, the highest manmade structure in Hua Hin, with a clear glass observation deck. This is another landmark of Hua Hin, elevated 110 meters from the ground and overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, Khao Takiab and Khao Tao. After the competition, which begins at 18:00 hrs, a family style Christmas party will be held at 22:00 hrs on the rooftop of Holiday Inn Resort Vana Nava Hua Hin, surrounded by gorgeous panoramic sea views.

Mr.Suwat Liptapanlop mentioned that the tournament will be honored by John Blom, international gold-badge chair umpire the International Tennis Federation (ITF), from Australia, one of the two persons in Asia and Oceania that have been promoted to this top position, who will serve as umpire during the “Intercontinental World Tennis Championship Thailand 2017”. On 23rd December the semi final round will begin and on 24th December is final and the third round. The winner be awarded with the Red Benjarong Bowl, 16 inches in size with a beautiful golden Pikul pattern, and the second place will receive a 14-inch Thai Yellow Benjarong Bowl, with water-drop pattern, both unique to Thailand.

Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop also mentioned that after finishing the competition, the four tennis players will practice at the True Arena Tennis Court (constructed on the same standards as the Australian Open tennis court) before departing to participate in another world-class tennis tournament, with a warm up match before the first Grand Slam of the year, the “Australian Open 2018” in January in Australia. Simona Halep’s next plan will be to join the women’s professional tennis tournament in Shenzhen, China, while Kristyna Pliskova will travel to Brisbane, Australia, to participate in professional tennis matches there as well.

This extraordinary event, the “Intercontinental World Tennis Championship Thailand 2017” will be broadcast live to the world, accessible on the Tennis Channel in the US, the Tencent Sports in China, Astro in Malaysia, i-Cable in Hong Kong, MobiTV in Vietnam, Fox Sports in Australia, DSports in India, TV One in Indonesia, and Eclat/SPO TV in South Korea, among others. In Europe, there will be live broadcasts to seven countries, including Digisport in Romania, and Sportklub in Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. There will also be live broadcasts to Singapore, Japan, Myanmar and Taiwan as well as to Southern Europe and the Scandinavian countries.

The results of the match selection on 23rd December, the first day, are as follows:
Simona Halep, ranked #1 in the world, meets Jelena Ostapenko
Kristyna Pliskova, from Czech, ranked #4 in the world, meets Johanna Conan

Tennis fans in Thailand can watch the match on True Visions channels such as True tennis (True 670) and True4U and via the application TrueID.
For tennis fans who would like to watch the competition up close, tickets may be purchased at Thai Ticket Major by visiting website www.thaiticketmajor.com, and are priced at THB 2,500.
Tickets will also be available at True Arena Hua Hin during 23rd – 24th December. For more information, please call 032-909-633 or visit www.truearenahuahin.com.