Ratchanok in semis of Hong Kong Open
Thailand had mixed fortunes at the Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open with badminton ace Ratchanok Intanon storming into the semi-finals while giant-killer Busanan Ongbamrungphan lost a hard-fought quarter-final on Friday.
Fifth-seeded Ratchanok beat fourth-seeded former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight games 21-19 21-16 in Friday’s quarter-final. She faces Japanese second seed Akane Yamaguchi on Saturday.
Busanan, who had toppled current world champion PV Sindhu of India in the second round, fell to Yamaguchi. Busanan won the first game easily at 21-9 but the Japanese fought back to claim the next two 21-17 21-15.
In the other quarter-final, Beiwen Zhang of the United States will take on third seed Chen Yu Fei. Beiwen beat Russel Hartawan of Indonesia 21-17 21-17 while Chen outlasted seventh-seeded compatriot He Bing Jao 16-21 21-9 21-15.
