Ratchanok lone Thai survivor at All England
World champion Ratchanok Intanon on Thursday (yesterday Bangkok) dropped her opening game before getting past Chinese Li Han to be the lone Thai survivor advancing to the quarter-finals of the US$400,000 All England Open in Birmingham.
World No 2 and third-seeded Ratchanok, who has not won a title since she captured the world crown last August, beat world No 19 Li Han with a magnificent come-from-behind 18-21 21-14 21-11 victory, stretching her remarkable win-loss record to 3-2. The teen prodigy sets up a quarter-final encounter against Li Michelle, the world No 24 Canadian, who finished second place at the last year’s Macau Open Grand Prix Gold.
Meanwhile, the Thailand’s ambitions were severely dented as the other shuttlers were all ousted. World No 6 and sixth-seeded Boonsak Ponsana fought hard against world No 25 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus from Denmark in the men’s singles second round before narrowly losing a hard-fought three-game thriller 21-18 12-21 19-21 to the Spanish Open winner.
There was also despair in women’s singles for world No 10 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, who found South Korean Bae Yeon Ju a tough nut to crack, going down to the Korea Grand Prix Gold champion in three games 11-21 21-19 13-21.
The women's duo of Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kulchala Voravichitchaikul were outclassed 16-21 7-21 by the formidable South Korean duo of Jang Ye Na/Kim Young So.
The Thais also sank hearts in the mixed doubles event when veterans Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam failed in their determined efforts to match the world No 18 duo of Kenichi Hayakawa and Misaki Matsutomo. The world No 8 Thais, who entered the quarter-finals last year, lost a close 19-21 19-21 battle to the Japanese pairing, who claimed silver in this prestigious tournament the previous year.
The remaining pairing of Maneepong Jongjjit/Sapsiree Taerattanachai also crashed out in the second round following a humiliating 15-21 11-21 loss to Korean eighth seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na.
“Everyone has been trying to beat me and I have been putting myself under pressure and been scared of the losses,” said Ratchanok. “So I try to concentrate on practising. I try not to think about the world championships because I am not the world number one.”
Another player to struggle was Saina Nehwal, the seventh-seeded Commonwealth champion from India, who clinched a nervy 24-22 18-21 21-19 win over Zhang Beiwen of the United States. Nehwal said she had been finding it difficult to sleep because her room was cold. She was, she said, off to look for a heater.
No such movement problems were in evidence for Lee Chong Wei, the men’s world No 1 from Malaysia, who overcame his compatriot Chong Wei Feng 21-6 21-12, once almost performing a cartwheel on court.
Lee, who hopes to regain the title in what may be his last All-England, now plays a surprise survivor, Kento Momota, the world No 15 from Japan.
