Shuttler Sapsiree halted in quarters
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Former Olympic junior gold medallist Sapsiree Taerattanachai crashed out in the Chinese Taipei Open badminton quarter-finals yesterday, losing in three games to world No 8 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.
The Thai No 2 took a hard-fought first game from the second seed but then faded and lost a fourth-straight match to her arch-rival, going down 21-17 16-21 11-21 in 49 minutes.
Another Thai hope Porntip Buranaprasertsuk briefly tested top seed Ji Hyun-sung of South Korea before losing 21-23 7-21. Porntip is now 3-5 against the world No 6.
In men’s singles action, Khosit Phetpradab was no match for world No 5 and top seed Tien Minh Nguyen, who cruised to a 21-9 21-10 win.
In the women’s doubles quarter-finals, third seeds A Ra-ko and Hae Won-yoo of South Korea narrowly edged Chaladchalam Chayanit and Pathaimas Meanwong 21-23 21-9 21-19.
