Exhausted Ratchanok succumbs in final to China's Wang
Ratchanok Intanon had no answers to Wang Shixian's onslaught and succumbed in straight games in the women's singles final of the US$125,000 Swiss Open.
The bitter 21-16 21-12 loss to Wang was another near-miss in the fledgling career of Ratchanok.
A week ago, she went down to Danish veteran Tine Baun in the final of the All England Open in Birmingham.
Ratchanok’s head-to-head record now drops to 1-4 against Wang, the world No 7 and fourth seed, who thrashed her in the Swiss Open semi-finals last year.
In the 36-minute battle, Ratchanok, fifth seed and world No 8, appeared weary as she committed a string of unforced errors. Wang, who stunned world No 2 and top-seeded Saina Nehwal of India in the semi-finals, came up with powerful cross-court smashes and dazzling drops close to the net, which forced the Thai girl to hit wide.
Ratchanok, 18, admitted that fatigue played a role in her erratic form. “It was a tough match. I did my best in this tournament, but I was feeling completely exhausted in the final,” Ratchanok said.
“I had to some tough matches from the first round to the final in both tournaments [All England and Swiss Open] and that’s why I was very tired playing the final. I made too many mistakes. I will learn from these mistakes and hope for the best in my future tournaments,” she said.
Ratchanok made history on March 10 when she emerged as the youngest-ever player to advance to the final in the prestigious All England Open’s 113-year history.
In men’s singles, 11th-seeded Wang Zhengming stunned top seed Du Pengyu 21-18 21-18 to land the title.
China captured its third crown in the tournament when sixth-seeds Chai Biao and Hong Wei pulled off a hard-fought 21-14 18-21 21-14 victory over top-seeds Ko Sung-hyun and Lee Yond-dae of South Korea in the men’s doubles final.
But Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen shattered Chinese hopes of a fourth title when the Danish second seeds edged Zhang Nan and Tang Jinhua 22-20 21-19 in the mixed doubles final.
South Korea claimed the remaining title when third seeds Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na outclassed Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan 23-21 21-16 in the all-Korean women’s doubles showdown.
