Boonsak in S'pore final
Reigning champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand took a step closer to winning the men's singles title for the second consecutive year in the Singapore Open Super Series Badminton Championship when he thrashed Japan's Takuma Ueda in straight games in the sem
Boonsak, current world No 4 and the fifth seed in the tournament, is yet to win a tournament since his success in the Singapore Open last year. He was a whisker away from winning the Thailand Open, where he lost to India’s K Srikanth in the final.
Against Ueda yesterday, he showed his power and excellent clearance at the net. After a one-sided 21-8 win in the opening game, Boonsak struggled in the second when the Japanese world No 17 fought back with aggressive smashes and cross-court drop shots.
Levelling at 14, Boonsak changed his tactics, keeping the shuttle in play and caused problems to his inexperienced rival. Boonsak took the second game 21-15, the match and a berth a final.
In today’s final showdown, Boonsak takes on old foe Tommy Sugiarto, world No 13. Fresh from winning a bronze medal at the Indonesia Open, Tommy yesterday struggled hard to beat sixth-seeded Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam 20-22 21-29 21-15.
Boonsak has played Tommy in three matches and has a 1-2 win-loss record against the Indonesian. At this year's German Open, Boonsak went down in straight games to his rival.
