HIGH HOPES
Thai shuttlers reach four Masters finals
>> Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Busanan Ongbamrungphan are one step away from lifting the titles at the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters badminton tournament.
A large crowd is expected today at Nimibutr Stadium where Thai shuttlers will be playing in four of five finals of the Grand Prix Gold event.
Kantaphon reached the men’s singles final following a gruelling 15-21, 21-18, 22-20 win over Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia yesterday.
The victory was sweet revenge for the Thai squad after the Malaysian eliminated highest-ranked local player Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Kantaphon credited the home supporters for his semi-final victory.
“I was feeling a bit discouraged after losing the first set and even thought of surrendering,” Kantaphon said.
“Luckily, the fans cheered me up and made me determined to fight to the end. I fought for every point and took it one shot at a time. It worked really well.”
In today’s final, Kantaphon will face third seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, who yesterday beat compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 16-21, 21-18, 21-14.
“For me, there is nothing to lose in the final and I will give it my best. I need to talk to the coach for the game plan,” added Kantaphon.
In the women’s singles, world No.12 and top seed Busanan came back from behind to edge third seed Cheng Yufei of China 18-21, 22-20, 21-17.
Unfortunately, the local hopes of seeing an all-Thai final were dashed as Nitchaon Jindapol lost 16-21, 17-21 to Aya Ohori of Japan in the other semi-final.
In the mixed doubles, second seeds Sapsiree Taeratanachai and Dechapol Puavaranukroh delivered the expected result and qualified for the final, beating fourth seeds Terry Hee Yong Kai and Wei Han Tan of Indonesia in the semi-finals.
They will meet Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui of China, the fifth seeds from China, who triumphed over Indonesian pair of Alfian Eko Prasetya and Annisa Saufika in the other semi-final.
“Our game has improved with the passage of time,” Dechapol said. “For the final, we will try to play our own game.”
It is the second chance for the Thai pair to vie for a Grand Prix Gold title after losing in the final of the 2016 Korean Masters.
Sapsiree also reached the final of t he women’s doubles with Putita Supajirakul.
They defeated Huang Dongping and Li Yinhu of China 23-21, 17-21, 21-14 in the semi-finals.
The Thai duo will today face top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, after the Chinese pair recorded a 21-16, 21-7 win over Greysia Polio and Rosyita Era Putri Sari of Indonesia.
In the men’s doubles, third seeds Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol, the only Thai pair left in the event, were defeated 21-18, 21-17 by China’s Huang Kaixian and Wang Yilyu in the semi-finals.
The winners of the singles events will pocket US$9,000 each, while the doubles winners will receive US$9,480 each.
Tickets starting from 50 baht are available at the venue.