Ratchanok misses out on semis spot in Delhi
Thai star goes down fighting to world No.4 Sung in straight games
>> World No.7 Ratchanok Intanon’s bid to retain her India Open title came to a grinding halt yesterday at the quarter-final stage of the BWF Superseries tournament in New Delhi.
The Thai badminton star, who was seeded fifth for the US$325,000 event, was beaten in straight games by her old nemesis Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea in their women’s singles encounter at Siri Fort Indoor Stadium.
The 21-16, 22-20 loss suffered by Ratchanok, a former world champion and No.1, made it two in a row in favour of the South Korean, who had earlier defeated the Thai in the Superseries Finals in Dubai in December.
Second seed Sung, who is ranked No.4 in the world, recorded a late surge in the first game as she rallied from a point down to score six in a row and gain the upper hand on her Thai opponent by claiming the opening game.
The second game was a neck-andneck affair in which Ratchanok and Sung took turns to score with the longest scoring sprees recorded by the two players being only three points each.
The South Korean held an advantage when Ratchanok claimed three unanswered points to tie the score 20-20 but failed to stop Sung from scoring two more and booking her place in the semi-finals.
Ratchanok had set herself a semifinal target for the India Open.
Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, praised Ratchanok for her efforts, saying the Thai star “maintained a very high standard in the tournament despite the fact that her physical condition is not ideal yet”.
Ratchanok is next scheduled to take part in the Malaysia Open, which is one of the three Superseries tournaments she won last year to briefly take over the top spot in the world rankings.
The Malaysia Open is a BWF Superseries Premier tournament which starts on Tuesday with the qualifying battles for the main draw. Ratchanok takes on Sayaka Sato of Japan in the first round.
Patama added: “Ratchanok has time to relax and recharge her batteries for the Malaysia Open, which is an important tournament on the BWF sports calendar.”