Ratchanok returns home for break before three title defence campaigns
Thailand’s badminton queen Ratchanok Intanon returned home to a resounding heroes’ welcome on Tuesday after she finished runner up in the All England Open in Birmingham for the second time.
Ratchanok also a finalist in 2013 in the prestigious badminton tournament put up a great fight against the world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 16-21 20-22 in the final on Sunday. She arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport amidst the huge attention of hundreds of fans and the media army.
The world No 7 said reaching the final was beyond her expectation judging from the fact that it was her first event after three months being on the sideline with knee injury.
“I came into the event hoping to make it to the quarter-finals,” said Ratchanok who highlighted her brilliant performance at the All England with a stunning comeback win from 11-18 to upset Olympics champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the quarter-finals.
“I thought I was losing to Marin. But I didn’t want to lose it easily so I tried to make it a bit tougher for her as I used to be No 1 and world champion. I didn’t think she would choke up. I never won 10 points in a row against a top player before,” said the 21-year-old former world No 1.
Ratchanok will have a two-week rest before going to defend three straight titles in India, Malaysia and Singapore.
“It will be tough to defend three titles in a row. My goal is to defend as many points as possible so that I won’t slip down the rankings much.”
