Ratchanok reaches last four in Dubai
Thai ace stuns second seed to advance
>> Ratchanok Intanon defied the odds to record a fantastic straight-game victory over former world No.1 Wang Shixian of China and storm into the semi-finals of the World Superseries Finals in Dubai yesterday.
The seventh seeded Thai was in great form in her last Group B encounter as she blazed her way to a 21-14, 21-19 triumph over the second seeded Chinese in 49 minutes.
Meanwhile, Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea also produced a big upset in the group when she upstaged thirdseeded Wang Yihan of China 21-14, 21-11 to register her first and only win of the tournament.
Ratchanok, a former world and reigning Asian champion, was left facing a do-or-die battle with Wang Shixian after losing her second roundrobin encounter 2-1 to old nemesis Wang Yihan of China on Thursday.
Ratchanok, who finished the group campaign with a 2-1 win-loss record, dominated Wang Shixian throughout the first game without relinquishing the lead on her way to a 21-14 win.
The second game was, however, a neck-and-neck affair until the final stages when Ratchanok claimed three points in a row to rally past Wang Shixian and record a 21-19 victory.
The result sent Wang Shixian, the top seeded player in Group B, crashing out of the season-ending tournament as Ratchanok and Wang Yihan, who had two wins against a loss, sailed through.
Ratchanok had recovered from a one-game deficit to beat Sung 2-1 in her first group match on Wednesday.
Wang Shixian and Sung finished their first round campaigns with a win each to their credit.
On Thursday, India’s Saina Nehwal kept her chances alive with one of the most remarkable wins of her career — a 23-21, 9-21, 21-12 triumph against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Nehwal had been unable to train for three weeks due to an Achilles injury and lost her opening group match heavily on Wednesday.
But 24 hours later, she saved a game point in the first game, recovered from a disastrous second, and frustrated the world’s best attacking woman player in an amazing third.
The Indian was helped by noisy support from a sizeable expatriate crowd, and by a strangely patchy performance from the Spaniard towards the end, when she was unable to finish a number of rallies after she had created good openings.
“My god, I didn’t expect this,” said Nehwal.
“I never thought I would win, and I had no plan. And I really never expected to play so well against Carolina.
“I didn’t do any kind of running before coming here, and I thought I would be playing with my dog at home this weekend.”
In the men’s singles event, world No.1 Chen Long from China made certain of qualifying for the semis with a solid second win.
He did that with a gear-changing 21-17, 21-12 win over Hu Yun, a boyhood friend from Hubei province, who is representing Hong Kong.
Already the winner of seven major titles this year, Chen is a hot favourite to score an eighth in Dubai, and a successful title defence in the tour’s flagship event is one of the very few things which his legendary compatriot, Lin Dan, twice the Olympic men’s singles champion, has not managed.