RATCHANOK IN KL FINAL
Thai star edges Yamaguchi, faces No.1 Tai in showdown
>> Ratchanok Intanon will take on top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying in the final of the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur today.
The fifth-seeded Ratchanok overcame No.2 seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 16-21, 21-19, while No.1 seed Tai of Taiwan rallied to beat No.4 seed Carolina Marin of Spain 12-21, 21-15, 23-21 in the semifinals yesterday.
Consistent with matches involving these two players, yesterday’s encounter was yet another thrilling battle. This time the 22-year-old Ratchanok managed to squeeze her way past the fiercely tenacious Yamaguchi in 70 entertaining minutes.
The last time the two players met, world No.2 Yamaguchi edged Ratchanok, currently ranked No.5, in a threegame battle in the semi-finals of the season-ending Dubai World Superseries Finals last December.
The men’s singles title match will be a battle between Danish top seed Viktor Axelsen and Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
Nishimoto defeated fellow unseeded player Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark 21-14, 21-19, while world No.1 Axelsen defeated Malaysian hope Daren Liew 21-15, 21-11 in the semis.
Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Adrianto of Indonesia knocked out fifth seeds Mads Conrad Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark in the men’s doubles semi-finals.
They will meet Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong in the final after the Malaysian pair upset eighth seeds Chen Hung-ling and Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan 21-16, 21-17.
Top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yian of China reached the women’s doubles final after coming from behind to defeat fourth seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan 15-21, 21-15, 21-14.
They take on Danish third seeds Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen, who defeated No.5 seeds Lee So-Hee and Shin Seung-Chan of South Korea 21-15, 21-18.
In the mixed doubles final, second seeds Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong will square off against No.5 seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China.
Tang and Tse defeated eighth seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai of Malaysia 14-21, 21-12, 21-3, while Zheng and Huang beat Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 21-13, 21-16.
This week’s tournament, which has been upgraded to Super 500 (formerly Superseries) by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), has seen its prize money almost triple to US$350,000 (approximately 11.2 million baht) and attracted many big names.