Young gun Kantaphon Wangcharoen reached his first semi-final in badminton’s top-tier series to rescue Thai pride after national hope Ratchanok Intanon exited at the quarter-final stage of the BLIBLI Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Friday.

Teenage qualifier Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Pornpawee Chochuwong stole the limelight in the SCG All Thailand National Badminton Championships at the Badminton Training Centre at Naglinchee yesterday.