Thailand fail to get past tough China

The loss to the successive four-time champions relegated Thailand to the 5th-8th play-offs. The other quarter-final match-up yesterday saw Japan thrash Taiwan 3-0, while Indonesia were due to face South Korea and India to take on Malaysia in late-night matches.

The four top teams will earn a ticket to the Thomas Cup Finals in Wuhan, China, from May 20 to 27. China have already qualified as hosts and as such, the team which finishes fifth, will also qualify for the 12-team finals.

The losing quarter-finalists will play-off  to decide the final qualifying berth.

Rising star Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, world No 42 and runner-up at the Chinese Taipei Open last year, replaced Boonsak in the first match against the much stronger Chen Long. The Chinese world No 3, who won a host of titles last year including the China Masters, the Denmark Open and the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, pulled off a convincing 21-11 21-9 win over the young Thai in a one-sided 33-minute battle. 

The men’s doubles encounter later between world No 5 Chai Biao/Guo Zhendong and Bodin Issara/Maneepong Jongjit saw the Thais trying to punch above their weight but failing to match the much stronger Chinese. Putting up  a good fight, the Thais finally succumbed 21-17 21-6 to the in-form Chai/Guo.

In the third match, China fielded world No 11 Du Pengyu in the crucial clash against his Thai counterpart Suppanyu Avihingsanon. Du was pushed to the limits by Suppanyu in the first game, but the Chinese found his touch to win the hotly-contested game 21-18. He stormed on to win the second game without much effort 21-9 to give China a clean 3-0 sweep.

In the women’s Uber Cup meet, SEA Games champions Thailand overpowered arch-rivals Indonesia 3-2 in their last Group Y match on Wednesday to top the group. The Kingdom started dismally with a stunning 21-16 23-21 loss by teen sensation and world No 13 Ratchanok Inthanon to Adrianti Firdasari. The Indonesian beat the Thai for the first time in the same tournament two years ago.

Fortunately, Ratchanok’s team-mates saved the day.

Group Y winners Thailand were due to take on Group W runners-up Malaysia in a late match yesterday. 

A win will carry the Thai women’s team to the finals. Three teams will qualify for the finals, as hosts China and title-holders South Korea have automatically made the cut.