Tanongsak, Ratchanok march into semis

Thai qualifier Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and teenage sensation Ratchanok Intanon cruised their way into the semi-finals of the All-England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Friday.

Eight other Thai shuttlers advanced to the quarter-finals in five events, while Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam’s challenge in the mixed doubles ended quickly.

In the men’s singles event, Tanongsak, current world No 37 and the runner-up at the last year’s Korea Grand Prix Gold, continued his remarkable form on Friday.

After stunning world No 10 Japanese Sho Sasaki, who upset former world champion, the Asiad and the Athens Games winner Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in their first-round clash, Tanongsak remained on course, crushing world No 23 Tommy Sugiarto in straight games 21-17 21-11.

The Indonesian player proved he is not an easy nut to crack as in last week’s German Open, as he ousted local best Boonsak Ponsana in the semi-finals to eventually bag silver.

However, Tanongsak would face a daunting task in the do-or-die semi-finals as he was due to take on world No 1 and top-seeded Lee Chong Wei later yesterday. The Malaysian ace is a giant in world badminton, capturing several major tournaments last year like the Malaysia Open, Korea Open, Denmark Open, Japan Open and Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold. Chong Wei also bagged a silver medal in the London Olympics and the All-England.

In the women’s singles competition, Thailand’s Ratchanok, 18, fought back bravely after a disappointing first-game loss 13-21 against world No 4 Juliane Schenk of Germany. The Thai, however, showed her grit in the following two games to comfortably win 21-12 21-8 and stretch the win-loss record against the much taller rival to 4-3, of which the latest four matches were in favour of the Thai girl.

Ratchanok, world No 8 and seeded eighth, was to take on world No 3 and second seed Saina Nehwal, who last year landed four major titles – the Denmark Open, Indonesia Open, Thailand Open and Swiss Open. In their previous six matches, Nehwal of India had four wins and lost twice to Ratchanok.

Also entering the semi-finals are the new pair of Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech in the men’s doubles event. The Thai duo, who teamed together a month ago and playing their first ever international together, pulled off a comfortable 21-11 21-13 victory over Taiwan’s Chen Hung Ling and Lu Chia Bin. 

“We had different game plans and stuck to them in the past three rounds. For the next round, we have to serve well and be more aggressive because we don’t want them to dictate play,” said Maneepong, who parted company with his former Olympics partner Bodin Issara due to personal reasons.

Maneepong and Nipitphon were due to play Japanese fourth seeds and world No 4 Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa.

Thailand suffered big disappointment in the mixed doubles event when Sudket and Saralee, world No 6 and the Indonesia Open winners, went down to unseeded world No 12 Markis Kido and Pia Zebadiah of Indonesia in a three-game thriller. Sudket and Saralee won the opener 21-18, but lost the close second game 20-22. The third game saw the Thais lead 20-18, but they let the win slip through their fingers. They let go straight three match points, giving the aggressive Indonesians a strong chance to come back and win the fierce battle 22-20 and the match. 

Thailand’s world No 10 Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kulchala Vorawichitchaikul also failed to make their mark in the women’s doubles event, going down to world No 95 and Chinese qualifiers Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei in straight games 21-19 21-19 in the women’s doubles event.