THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

The fourth is with her

The fourth is with her

Nitchaon aims for top 10 after Bangkok victory.

Nitchaon Jindapol won her fourth BWF Super World Tour 300 – and settled a score with national champion Pornpawee Chochuwong – in the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters at the Nimibutr National Stadium on Sunday.
The world No 13, who lost to her young rival in the National Championships last year, proved a much more consistent contestant from start to finish as she won the final 21-11 21-18 and thus became the third Thai to take the singles crown after Ratchanok Intanon and Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
This also marked her first home win as all her three previous crown happened off-shore: 2013 in Canada and in 2013 and 2017 in Germany.
“This is a special gift for me and for the Thai fans who came to watch me today. I’m really happy,” said Nitchaon supported by around 1,000 fans yesterday, after doing her homework after that loss in July last year.
“My plan was to make her run and keep her off the rhythm. But no matter who won, the title would still belong to a Thai,” said Nitchaon, whose main goal in 2018 is to crack into the top 10.
Thailand also won the women’s doubles after top-seeded Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai beat Anggia Awanda and Ni Istarani of Indonesia 21-19 21-17 for their third Super World Tour 300 title.  The unsung heroes Kittisak Namdash and Tinn Isriyanet won the third title for the Kingdom as they outplayed Wahyu Pankaryanira and Ade Santoso 21-18 11-21 22-20.
It is the first time that Thais have won more than one event in the tournament’s history.
In the mixed doubles, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Puttita Supajiraku lost to 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medalists Chan Peng Soon and Liu Ying Goh of Malaysia 15-21 21-14 16-21.  
Dechapol also lost the final last year with Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
“I’m happy that we took a game from them. It wasn’t easy as they reached the final in the Olympics,” said Dechapol.
Puttita said: “We made just a few mistakes. We are happy to come this far as we just team up temporarily while Sapsiree is still recovering from injury.”
In the men’s singles, second seeded Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia beat Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia  21-16 21-15 to defend his crown and claim his fifth career title.
“I’m very happy to defend the title. I hope to play consistently for the rest of the year,” said the world No 25.

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