Bangkok--12 Oct--Open Court
Airtimes in Thailand
October 14th Thursday at 18:30, 23:30
October 16th Saturday at 13:30
October 17th Sunday at 03:00, 10:30, 14:30 and 22:00 October 18th Monday at 08:30
Open Court in October is an Asian special, hosted from Kuala Lumpur, where presenter Pat Cash is playing in The Showdown of Champions 2010 tournament with several former champions including Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic.
The show team visits Bangkok and meets US Open 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro as he makes his long-awaited comeback after a recurring wrist injury forced him to miss the opportunity to defend his US Open title in 2010. Making his return in the Bangkok Open, the program profiles the player who is still ranked world number nine, visiting his home and observing his medical treatment away from the court as well as talking to his mentor Ugo Colombini.
The program also meets Asia's most successful tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan. In 2003 he broke into the world top 10 in the world, but since his retirement in 2005, he has focused on a new venture in film.
Open Court also travels to Cambodia where the old killing fields are being transformed into tennis courts, thanks largely to one man - Rithevit Tep. The Tennis Court Foundation in Phnom Penh is transforming areas worst affected by the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia had a strong tradition in tennis before the sport was banned by Pol Pot in 1975. The ensuing genocide claimed the lives of nearly every player and 15 years later when Rithivit Tep (the son of a former national champion) returned to his homeland he could only find three former high-level tennis players who survived. By re-building tennis courts on grounds that were previously blighted with landmines, today the sport is now played in 2500 schools.
Also on the show, Open Court meets the remarkable double pair Rohan Bopanna from India and Aisam Qureshi from Pakistan, who reached the Wimbledon quarter finals in 2010. The pair have launched a foundation called 'Play Tennis, Not War' and one of their goals is to play the game on a self made court that borders India and Pakistan.
For more information, please visit www.cnn.com/opencourt