FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Dechapol-Sapsiree upset world No 1

Dechapol-Sapsiree upset world No 1

Red-hot Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai stunned world No 1 mixed doubles Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen of China to continue their impressive form into the semi-final of the Asia Badminton Championship in Wuhan on Friday.

The inform Thai duo was involved in a see-saw battle first game with the Chinese and finally wrapped up the opener 21-19. But from them on They dominated most of the second game to win 21-17, stamping their authority over the top pair whom they also beat in the Swiss Open semi-finals last month.

“Our game plan was to keep them out of the comfort zone. We made them set up easy shots for us to attack them,” said Sapsiree the only player in the world to win the singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles in the Grand Prix or higher level tournament.

Dechapol and Sapsiree have been showing impressive results this year by reaching their first Super Series final in Singapore two weeks ago and the final at the Thailand Masters in February. They also celebrated their maiden title together at the Swiss Open.

“Being in back-to-back semi-finals made us feel great. In fact we didn’t expect this as we are more concerned with playing our best and feel happy with the results,” added Sapsiree.

They will play either Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China or fifth seed Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto of Indonesia on Saturday.

No Thais survived the women’s singles quarter-finals on Friday. Ratchanok Intanon was stopped by old rival  Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 16-21 19-21 while Nitchaon Jindapol went down to Lee Jang Mi of South Korea 19-21 9-21. 

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