Thais Ratchanok or Busanan set to make history today
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Thailand enjoyed a double delight in the SCG Thailand Open Badminton Championships when local players defeated unfancied rivals to storm into two finals, including the men's and women's singles.
Teen prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon and compatriot Busanan Ongbumrungpan set up an all-Thai clash in the women’s singles final, which means Thailand are assured of a historic crown. No Thai has ever won the women’s singles event since the inception of the Thailand Open in 1984.
Before a large crowd at the Nimibutr Gymnasium yesterday, the second-seed and world No 5 Ratchanok tore apart Taiwan’s Pai Hsiao Ma 21-13 21-17 in the first semi-final encounter. World No 22 and seventh-seed Busanan followed suit by outclassing world No 23 Gu Juan of Singapore 21-17 21-19.
The 18-year-old Ratchanok has moved a step closer to winning her second title of the year. She lost the final against India’s Saina Nehwal in the Thailand Open last year but came back much stronger this time.
Ratchanok captured her first Super Series crown in the recent India Open and is strongly poised to win today, thanks largely to the surprise exit of top seed and world No 2 Nehwal at the hands of Gu Juan in the quarter-finals.
Ratchanok, silver medallist at this year’s All-England and Swiss Open, has never played compatriot Busanan before and the final will determine the best women’s player in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Japan dashed Busanan’s dreams of entering her second final when she lost in the women’s doubles. Busanan paired up with Porntip Buranaprasertsuk but they went down fighting 21-16 14-21 20-22 to Japan’s Yuriko Miki and Koharu Yonemoto. In the men’s singles, top-seed and the 2004 Thailand Open champion Boonsak Ponsana stormed his way into the final by defeating Indonesia’s Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo 21-9 21-9 yesterday.
The world No 7 goes up against India’s world No 61 K Srikanth, who stopped the remarkable run of Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand 21-14 21-18. Young Sitthikom, ranked 143 in the world, stunned three seeded rivals en route to yesterday’s semi-final. Among his victims was second-seeded Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the opening round.
