Thai teenager sweeps aside India's Nehwal
Teen prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon made history on Saturday when she became the first Thai women player to advance to the final of the All-England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
Eighth-seeded Ratchanok, 18, stunned world No 3 and second-seed Saina Nehwal of India in straight games 21-15 21-19. It was sweet revenge for Ratchanok, who lost on home soil to Nehwal in the final of the Thailand Open last year. The victory also improved Ratchanok's win-loss record against the Indian to 3-4. Nehwal has proved a tough nut to crack in international competition. Last year, the Indian star landed four major titles - the Denmark Open, Indonesia Open, Thailand Open and Swiss Open.
World No 8 Ratchanok was due to take on Danish veteran Tine Baun, current world No 7 and former two-time All-England winner, in the women's final late yesterday.
Ratchanok has opened a new chapter in Thailand's badminton history, becoming the first Thai to make the final since the women's singles made its debut in the All-England Championships in 1900.
Ratchanok's bold and imaginative play contrasted with a tensed a tired-looking Nehwal. Should now faces a final that could see her become the tournament's youngest winner, at 18 years and one month.
Veteran Baun, who is making one last bid at the tournament which made her famous, caused a major surprise by reaching the final for the fourth time.
It will be the last match of the 33-year-old Dane's career, and she achieved it with a dramatic 24-22 19-21 21-19 win against Sung Ji-hyun, the fifth seeded Korean, after being 15-20 down in the first game and lasting 76 exhausting minutes with an opponent a dozen years younger.
The seventh seeded Baun also let slip a lead of 19-17 in the second game, an opportunity to reach the final less tired, and had to endure an agonising two-minute time-out to wipe the court before playing the match point.
The time-out was forced when Sung's full-length dive, in a heroic bid to save the match, smeared the playing surface with sweat.
Baun took risks to win, and succeeded on the narrowest of margins. "I wanted to play my way and if I made mistakes, so be it," she said. "This has all been an adventure and I didn't know this could happen.
Meanwhile, Thai qualifier Tanongsak Saengsomboonsuk's remarkable run in the All-England ended in Saturday's semi-finals when the world No 37 went down to world No 1 and top seeded Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight games 22-20 21-8.
Team-mates Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech met a similar fate when they crashed out in the men's doubles semi-finals with a 22-20 21-15 defeat to world No 4 Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan.
Lee moved to within one step of winning back the All-England title which helped make him a badminton superstar with a superb performance to clinch his semi-final match in little more than half an hour. He reached his fifth final and the chance of a third title.
After a patchy quarter-final performance he said he wanted to forget, Lee stepped up a gear in the second game against the Thai qualifier, with control, containment and brilliantly timed counter-attacks that were of the highest order.
"I came on to court a little bit nervous because I knew he had been playing very well," said Lee of an opponent ranked outside the top 30.
"There was a lot of pressure. But I feel sharp because I didn't play in Germany and instead concentrated on preparing for the All-England.
"I trained just for the All-England. I have to do things like that more and more because I'm getting a little older and I don't want to get slower."
Lee, who lost last year to Lin Dan, the Olympic champion from China, finds another Chinese player barring his way in the final.
He is Chen Long, winner of the World Super Series finals in Shenzhen, who reached his first All-England final with a perfectly gauged 21-19 22-20 win over Jan Jorgensen, the unseeded Dane.
Chen was trailing by 13-17 and 16-18 in the first game, and by 9-11 and 18-19 in the second, but stepped up the pace of rallies in each game at the crucial moment.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/03/11/ratchanok-eyes-historic-victory/
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