Thai-tanic surprise!:
Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan (in white) celebrating with teammates after they stunned defending champions China to reach the Uber Cup final.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE director Rexy Mainaky hopes the historic achievement of Thailand’s women shuttlers will change the landscape of badminton in the country.
Yesterday, host Thailand rode on the strength of their singles players to upset 14-time champions China to reach the Uber Cup final.
Spurred on by a vociferous home crowd, Thailand – led by Ratchanok Intanon – beat China 3-2 in the semi-finals to set up a showdown with top seeds Japan.
It will be Thailand’s first final appearance – and what a historic achievement it was in their own backyard. Their previous best outing was a semi-final finish at the 2012 edition in Wuhan, China.
With the shocking defeat, China failed to reach the final for the first time in 34 years. They have
reached every final since their debut in 1984.
Rexy was proud of his charges. “China are the favourites but our girls pulled off an upset. They believed in themselves. I hope this result will give Thailand badminton a boost and more focus will be
given,” said the Indonesian.
“Today, Ratchanok made all the difference to give the team a morale-boosting start,” said Rexy.
Ratchanok started the ball rolling by beating Chen Yufei 15-21, 21-9, 21-14 but China levelled the tie 1-1 through their world No. 1 pair Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan.
Nitchaon Jindapol put Thailand 2-1 up with a superb 19-21, 21-19, 21-12 win over Gao Fangjie.
Puttita Supajirakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai came within a whisker to deliver the winning point but lost 26-24, 17-21, 18-21 to Huang Yaqiong-Tang Jinhua.
Busanan Ongbamrungphan became Thailand’s heroine when she blew away Li Xuerui 21-11, 21-9 for the historic win.
“Japan will be the favourites. The expectations are high but I’ve told the girls to relax and enjoy the final,” he added.
In the Thomas Cup, China beat Indonesia 3-1 to storm into the final. They will play the winner of the other semi-final between Japan and Denmark. At press time, Japan and Denmark were tied at 2-2.