Thai challenge ends in quarters of Asian event
Thailand suffered a big blow yesterday when all of their shuttlers suffered disappointing losses in the quarter-finals of the Asian Badminton Championships in Taiwan.
Teen prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon, 18, the current world No 8 and runner-up at this year’s All-England Championship and the Swiss Open, suffered a shock defeat to Japanese world No 22 Sayaka Takahashi, winner of the recent Australian Open.
Ratchanok, the lone Thai player who did not lose a single match to her rivals at last week’s mixed-team Axiata Cup, lost to the never-say-die Sayaka in a hard-fought, three-game thriller 18-21 23-21 21-23.
In the men’s doubles quarter-finals, Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit and Niphitphon Puangpuapech fought hard against the much-stronger third seeds and world No 5 Kim Ki Jung/Kim Sa Rang, the defending champions who had captured last year’s Indonesia Open Grand Prix and the Japan Open. The South Korean duo proved too strong for the Thai pairing, brushing them aside 21-16 21-23 21-17.
Thailand still had high hopes in the mixed doubles event when Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam, the world No 6 and third seeds tested their mettle against Indonesian world No 10 Fran Kurniawan/Shendy Puspa Irawati.
The Thai tandem took the opening game 21-18, but lost their touch in the remaining two games to go down 15-21 11-21.
Thailand’s last hopes rested on world No 12 and the last year’s Singapore Open winner Boonsak Ponsana, who went up against world No 2 and the All-England champion Chen Long in the men’s singles quarter-finals. The Chinese top seed has already landed two titles this year – the All-England and the German Open.
After losing 14-21 in the first game, Boonsak hit back to take the second game 22-20. The tie-breaker turned out to be a one-sided after when Chen Long continued his onslaught to beat Boonsak 21-12 for a 2-1 win.
The two have played each other six times with Chen Long faring better, winning the last three contests – last year’s Olympic Games in London, the recent All-England and this Asian meet.
