Mixed doubles exit ends Thai hopes for title
Dechapol, Sapsiree beaten at Australian Open
>> Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai crashed out of the Australian Open yesterday, ending Thailand’s interest in the US$750,000 BWF Superseries tournament.
The eighth-seeded Thai mixed doubles pair lost to Kim Dong-Young and Kim Ha-Na of South Korea 12-21, 17-21 in a 45-minute quarter-final at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
Despite their higher ranking, Dechapol and Sapsiree were off to a slow start and quickly fell behind 6-9 and 8-11 in the opening game.
The Korean pair continued to attack at every given opportunity and won six straight points for a 16-8 lead before comfortably taking the game 21-12.
The Thais had a better start in the second game, taking 6-4 and 7-5 leads before the Koreans regrouped and found their rhythm again to pull level 10-10, 14-14 and 15-15.
The Korean duo eventually pulled away with five straight points to take 20-15 lead. Dechapol and Sapsiree managed to save two match points but found themselves helpless on the third occasion.
The Koreans next face seventh seeds Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto in the semis today. The Indonesians eased past Chang Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See of Malaysia 21-8, 21-17.
China are guaranteed of at least a place in the mixed decider after top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen and unseeded duo Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping won their quarter-finals in straight games yesterday to set up a semi-final meeting.
In the women’s singles event, top seed and world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying moved into the last four after overcoming fifth seed PV Sindhu of India.
The Taiwanese world No.1, who eliminated Thai hope Ratchanok Intanon in the previous round, rallied after losing the first game to dispose of Sindhu 10-21, 22-20, 21-16.
Tai battles it out against third seed Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals today after the Japanese third seed defeated No.8 seed Chen Yufei of China 21-15, 21-14.
In the bottom half of the draw, sixth seed Sun Yu of China set up a semifinal clash with Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
Sun outlasted I ndia’s Saina Nehwal 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 in an hour and 19 minutes, while Okuhara booked her berth in the semis with a 21-12, 23-21 win over compatriot Sayaka Takahashi.
In-form Indian Srikanth Kidambi needs two more wins to seal back-toback titles.
The 24-year-old Indian star followed up his upset win over Korean top seed and world No.1 Son Wan-Ho on Thursday with another impressive performance to defeat compatriot B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-17 yesterday.
The world No.11, who won the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier event last Sunday, next faces fourth seed Shi Yuqi after the Chinese cruised past Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-9, 21-13.
In the bottom half of the draw, Chen Long scraped past Chinese compatriot Lin Dan to join Kidembi and Shi in the semi-finals.
Reigning Olympic champion Chen won 21-16, 12-21, 23-21 in 78 gruelling minutes.
The 28-year-old star next faces Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea who also needed three games to knock out eighth seed Tian Houwei of China 17-21, 21-15, 21-18.
In the men’s doubles semi-finals today, Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan of China battle Indonesia-Malaysia combination of Hendra Setiawan and Boon Heong Tan, while Lu Chingyao and Yang Po-han of Taiwan take on third seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda of Japan.