Busanan in last four of Thailand Masters
Local hopes for men’s singles title rest on unsung Kantaphon, Busanan and Nichaon advance
>> Top seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk suffered a shock loss while Busanan Ongbamrungphan advanced to the semi-finals of the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium yesterday.
World No.11 Tanongsak, the highest-ranked player in the men’s singles event of the US$120,000 Grand Prix Gold competition, was defeated by Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia 21-18, 21-12 in the quarter-finals.
It was a very disappointing result for the 27-year-old badminton star, who was expected to win the title easily thanks to his recent performances and world ranking.
Thai fans can now pin their hopes on Kantaphon Wangcharoen, who yesterday beat Aditya Joshi of India 21-12, 21-11.
Kantaphon will take on Lee in today’s semi-finals.
In the women’s singles competition, it could be an all-Thai affair in the final after Busanan and Nichaon Jindapol booked their places in the semi-finals.
World No.12 and top seed Busanan took just 35 minutes to get the better of sixth seed and world No.52 Sonia Cheah of Malaysia 21-7, 21-18, while second seed Nichaon outlasted Liang Xiaoyu of Singapore 21-15, 19-21, 21-14 in an epic ecnounter.
In today’s semi-finals, Busanan will meet third seed Cheng Yufei of China, while Nichaon will be up against Aya Ohori of Japan.
In the men’s doubles, third seed Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh took a 21-18, 21-17 win over Kah Ming Choo and Low Juan Shen of Malaysia.
In the last four, the third-seeded pair, who are the only Thais left in the category, will take on China’s Huang Kaixian and Wang Yilu.
In the mixed doubles battles, Sapsiree Taeratanachai and Dechapol lived up to the expectations of the local badminton fans by clinching a berth in the semi-finals.
They beat Yang Po-Han and Hung Shih-Han of Taiwan 21-13, 21-17 in the quarter-finals.
They will next meet fourth seeds Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan of Indonesia.
In the other semi-final, Alfian Eko Prasetya and Annisa Saufika of Indonesia will face Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui of China.
The Thailand Masters was launched last year to honour HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, a former national player who won the team gold medal at the 2005 SEA Games.