Thai star stumbles into semis
Ratchanok Intanon was handed her first defeat in the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals on Friday but will still appear in the semi-finals.
The world No 6 was inconsitent in her last preliminary match with world No 8 Chen Yufei of China but slumped in the latter stages of the deciding game to lose 19-21 21-13 18-21.
But the former world No 1 had already reserved a spot in the last four following her earlier wins over Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea and current world No 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan.
Ratchanok’s semi-final opponent on Saturday is world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi who leads her 9-7 in their head-to-head series.
