Dechapol and Sapsiree reach the final
Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai reached their first-ever Super Series final when they came from behind to beat Kian Meng Tan and Pei Jing Lai of Malaysia 18-21 21-11 21-14 in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open yesterday.
The world No 11 pair overcame rustiness in the first game to win the match in 64 minutes, making amends for their defeat to the same rivals at this same stage of the Thailand Open last October.
“We made it easy for them with our poor shots in the first game. We tried to be more aggressive later in the match by attacking both wings,” said Sapsiree, who won the Swiss Open with Dechapol in March which made her the only player male or female to win three Grand Prix categories (women’s singles in the 2013 US Open and women’s doubles with Savitree Amitrapai in the 2012 Syed Modi International and with Puttita Supajira in the Thailand Open last year).
“After winning the Swiss Open, our next goal was to win a Super Series title. We are quite nervous but we will try to stay calm,” said Sapsiree.
“Our teamwork is getting better and we are more confident after the Swiss Open victory. Of course, we want to win this Super Series but we don’t want to put ourselves under pressure. We hope we can put up a good show in the final,” said Dechapol.
Looking nervous in the opener that cost them the game, the Thai pair recovered fast in the second to establish an 11-4 lead, thanks to a barrage of errors from the Malaysian pair.
The Thai pair kept their momentum going after the intermission to level the match with a superb combination while their opponents struggled to put the shuttle in play.
In the decider, the Thai team maintained their solid performance to stride to a 6-1 lead before the world No 10 duo rallied to edge closer at 7-8.
However, Tan and Pei became inconsistent, missing several points and misreading a few shots that landed inside the court. Tan sprayed a backhand shot well outside the court to surrender the match.
Dechapol and Sapsiree will play third-seeded Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China in today’s final, which will be shown live on TrueVisions 666.
