Thai world No 1 Dechapol/Sapsiree lose gold to bogey team
Thailand's world No 1 mixed doubles pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai had to settle for silver after running into their bogey team in the 2022 Badminton World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Sunday.
The Thai duo were bidding for a third successive title but ran out of gas against China's world No 3 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong in the final at Nimibutr Arena, going down 21-19, 18-21, 21-13.
Siwei and Yaqiong were crowned World Tour Finals champions for the second time after clinching their first title in 2019. They took home the first prize of US$126,000 (4.41 million baht) while Dechapol and Sapsiree pocketed $60,000 (2.10 million baht) as runners-up.
Despite being world No 1, the Thai pair have only won two of their 12 encounters against Siwei and Yaqiong.
More bad news for Thailand came in the women’s doubles final, where the Aimsaard sisters, Benyapa and Nuntakarn, lost to China's Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan 21-13, 21-14.
In the women’s singles, Japan’s reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi took gold after beating Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan 21-18, 22-20.
The men’s singles final saw world No 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark retain his title with a 21-13, 21-14 victory over Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting.
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