Ratchanok storms into semi-finals of the Swiss Open
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Teen prodigy Ratchanok Intanon is the lone Thai left in the US$125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold after scoring a comfortable victory over old foe Juliane Schenk in the Friday quarter-finals.
The 21-10 21-10 win has stretched the Thai girl’s head-to-head win-loss record against the German to 5-3. Ratchanok, the world No 8 and the fifth seed, has beaten world No 4 and second-seeded Schenk five times in a row, including in the quarter-finals of the All England Championships last week. Ratchanok, who made history to become the youngest player advancing to the women’s singles final of the All England and the first Thai woman ever to win a silver medal in the prestigious tournament, was due to take on Japanese Hashimoto Yui in yesterday’s semi-finals.
Hashimoto, a qualifier, has proved that she is a tough nut to crack after all. In the quarter-finals, the world No 66, who won this year’s Austrian International Challenge, stunned Chinese seventh seed Jiang Yangjiao in a hard-fought thriller 21-12 17-21 25-23.
Meanwhile, the Thai women’s duo of Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul, ranked world No 10, lost to Malaysia’s Hoo Vivian Kah Mun and Woon Khe Wei.
The Thais’ bitter 21-15 8-21 20-22 loss has improved the Malaysians’ win-loss record to 3-0. The previous two matches were at the Thailand Open and the India Open Grand Prix Gold in 2011.
With the departure of the women’s doubles pair, Thailand hopes rest on the young shoulders of Ratchanok, who will have a do-or-die battle in her hands later yesterday.
