Three Thai shuttlers in Denmark Open showdowns
Three Thai musketeers stormed their ways to the finals of the US$700,000 Yonex Denmark Open World Superseries Premier Badminton Championships at Odense Sports Park in Odense, Denmark, with world No.18 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk going up against Korean Son Wan Ho in the men’s singles showdown on Sunday.
Tanongsak, who made much of the impact early this month following his significant success in the SCG Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, outclassed Canada Open bronze medallist and world No.38 Brice Leverdez from France 21-9 21-13 in 32 minutes. Tanongsak’s final opponent Son has yet won a tournament this year. The Korean world No.7 made it to two finals in Korea Open and Singapore Open, but lost in both occasions. Son proved that his spot for the final was no fluke as the sixth seed stunned world No.22 Lee Hyun Il, winner at this year’s US Open and Thailand Masters, 21-14 21-16 in the all-Koreans semi-finals on Saturday.
Tanongsak had already played Son twice and lost to the Korean in both matches including the first round of the Singapore Open in April.
In the men’s doubles event, world No.27 Bodin Isara/Nipitphon Phuangphuapet overpowered world No.15 and seventh-seeds Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi of Indonesia 21-11 21-18 in 34 minutes to next be pitted against Malaysian fourth seeds Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong in the final clash. The world No.7 and silver medallists at the Rio Olympic Games produced a fantastic comeback 20’-22 21-15 21-11 win over second seeds Boe Mathias/Mogensen Carsten of Denmark in the other semi-final encounter on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sapsiree Taerattanachai/Puttita Supajirakul fell victim to Japanese top seeds and world No.1 Ayaka Takahashi/Misaki Matsutomo, who captured many major tittles including the Rio Olympic Games, the Asian Championships, Indonesia Open, India Open, All England Open and Malaysia Masters.
