Thai Master
Kantaphon collapses at last Masters hurdle
Busanan claims trophy after hard-fought final
World No.12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan provided the bright spot on an otherwise disappointing day, capturing the women’s singles title of the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters yesterday.
The 20-year-old Busanan, who was seeded top for the event, played to her potential and lived up to the expectations of the local fans by carding a 21-18, 21-16 victory over world No.20 Aya Ohori of Japan.
A large crowd had gathered at Nimibutr Gymnasium to see Thai shuttlers vie for four of five titles at stake at the Grand Prix Gold tournament.
Unseeded Kantaphon Wangcharoen went down to third seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-17, 21-11 in the men’s singles title match and settled for the runner-up purse of US$4,560 (159,600 baht), while his rival earned $9,000 (315,000 baht).
In the women’s doubles, Sapsiree Taerattanachai and Putita Supajirakul found top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China too hard to handle. They were beaten 16-21, 21-15 in 47 minutes. The Thai pair received $4,560 (159,600 baht) for their second-place finish.
Sapsiree also settled for the runners-up spot in the mixed doubles. She teamed up with Dechapol Puavaranukroh, but the second-seeded Thai pair suffered a 21-11, 20-22, 21-13 loss to Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui, the fifth seeds from China.
Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the BAT, was upbeat after Busanan’s victory in the tournament.
She said: “It is a very encouraging result for Thailand and I would like to praise our Indonesian coach Rexy Mainaky for his efforts.
“He has not only helped our players improve a great deal in only two months, but he has instilled a new sense of confidence in them. They are all now ready to fight to the end.
“We can now say that Thai badminton is heading in the right direction.”
Busanan, who took 57 minutes to defeat her Japanese rival, said: “This is a very important win for me.
“It is my first title of the year and it has come in front of my home fans.”
The win is likely to boost Busanan’s world ranking by a couple of spots, and the Nonthaburi native expects to improve further in 2017. Currently the Thai sits at No.12 in the standings.
Asked about her chances of winning a World Superseries tournament in the near future, Busanan said it was “too early to make any such assumptions”.
“I am not thinking that far,” she added. Busanan took home $9,000 (about 315,000 baht) for denying Thailand Open winner Ohori her second title in the Kingdom. She is the second Thai after last year’s champion Ratchanok Intanon to lift the Masters trophy.
The title in the men’s doubles went to Huang Kaixian and Wang Yilyu of China. The duo beat Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han of Taiwan 21-19, 21-22, 21-16. Huang and Wang received $9,480 (331,800 baht).