Ratchanok aiming to be fit as a fiddle
Ratchanok Intanon hopes to return to full fitness before she launches her defence of her three Super Series titles in India, Malaysia and Singapore at the end of this month
After turning up the badminton fever in Thailand by reaching the final of the All England Open, where her spectacular comeback attempt was halted by world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 21-16 22-20, Ratchanok arrived home to be greeted by hundreds of fans and the waiting media at the airport. The two-time All England finalist, who was competing in her first event after taking a break for three months to nurse her injured left knee, said she must get back into shape before the Indian Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open.
She decimated the opposition in the three events, becoming the first player ever to win three Super Series title in a row.
“I am not fully fit. There was no pain in the left leg during the tournament. But I was getting tired right from the first round. I need to play more tournaments to regain my confidence and stamina as I was out of competition for several months,” said the former world No 1.
“But I’m happy that I reached the final of a big event on my comeback trail,” said Ratchanok, who picked her upset victory over Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the quarter-finals as her best moment at the All England.
The Thai was three points away from defeat at 11-18 in the decisive game before reeling off 10 straight points to turn the tide in her favour.
“I thought I was losing to Marin. But being the former world No 1 and world champion, I didn’t want to lose easily so I tried to make it a bit tougher for her. I didn’t think she would choke. I had never won 10 points in a row against a top player before,” she said.
Ratchanok will have two weeks to prepare for the Indian Open Super Series, which starts in New Delhi on March 28. Despite the uphill task and the possibility of her ranking dropping if she fails to retain her titles, the world No 7 is not worried as she focuses on the bigger picture.
“Even if I win, I would gain nothing from that. My goal is to defend as many points as possible so that I don’t slip down the rankings. However I hope to play well during the last stage of the season as I don’t have points to defend. That’s when I can climb up the rankings again,” said Ratchanok, who will play 15 events, including the Thailand Open in May.
