Ratchanok evens the score with Gilmour in Denmark
Ratchanok Intanon and Busanan Ongbamrungphan booked their berths in the last 16 round of the US$775,000 Denmark Open in Odense yesterday.
The fourth-seeded Ratchanok defeated Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 21-17 in their women’s singles first round match of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event at Odense Sports Park.
It was a sweet revenge for the 23-yearold Ratchanok who suffered a shock loss against the 26th-ranked Scotswoman in the second round of the Korea Open last month.
World No.6 Ratchanok will play Canada’s 16th-ranked Michelle Li for a place in the quarter-finals today.
Li defeated Russia’s Evgeniya Kosetskaya 21-13, 22-20 to progress.
Busanan, meanwhile, knocked out Gao Fengjie of China 21-17, 21-16. She will play the winner of the late match between top seed and world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan or Sayaka Takahashi of Japan.
Pornpawee Chochuwong was unable to join her compatriots in the last 16 as she lost to seventh seed He Bingjiao 21-16, 17-21, 14-21. China’s He goes on to meet Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea in the second round.
Another Thai star Nitchaon Jindapol bowed out on Tuesday, going down to eighth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 19-21, 18-21.
In the men’s singles second round today, Suppanyu Avihingsanon will face a tough assignment against second seed Kento Momota of Japan.
Top-ranked Momota is the reigning world champion. The 24-year-old became the first Japanese man to top the Badminton World Federation rankings, replacing Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen at the top of the list for men’s singles last month.
Suppanyu received a walkover over Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei in the first round on Tuesday.
Fellow Thai Khosit Phetpradab will play Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong in another second round match. Khosit defeated Brice Leverdez of France 21-15, 21-14 in Tuesday’s opener.
In the women’s doubles event, eighth seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, who received a walkover on Tuesday, will play China’s Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu in the second round today.
In the mixed doubles second round, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattananchai will meet Chinese second seeds Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China today.