Boonsak blasts through to semis in S'pore

Boonsak, world No 4 and fifth seed, is the only Thai hope left in the tournament. Standing between him and the final is either Ueda Takuma or Kento Momota, who were due to play an all-Japanese clash late yesterday.

With his scintillating win yesterday, Boonsak’s hopes of a successful title defence look brighter than ever. Along with the withdrawals of world and Olympic champion Lin Dan of China and world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Chinese top seed Du Penyu, second seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong and Japan’s fourth seed Kenichi Tago have all crashed out of the tournament. That leaves fifth seed Boonsak as the top seed so far to reach the semi-finals.

On the women’s side, fellow Thai and world No 20 Sapsiree Taerattanachai’s remarkable run ended yesterday when she went down to top seed Li Xuerui of China 21-11 21-19. 

World No 1 and Olympic champion Li maintained her run against the rising Thai star with a fourth successive win over Sapsiree.

In the men’s doubles, world No 28 Maneepong Jongjit and Niphitphon Puangpuapech, bronze medallists at this year’s All England Championships, found world No 1 and top seeds ran into an in-form Ko Sung-hyun and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea, who ousted the Thais 21-9 21-16.