Wang Yihan proves too strong for Ratchanok
Asian champion Ratchanok Intanon fought hard against Chinese world No.8 Wang Yihan but found the Chinese Taipei winner too strong to go down in comfortable straight games 12-21 12-21 in the do-or-die semi-finals of the US$1-million Dubai World Superseries
World No.7 and the Indonesia Open winner Ratchanok, who burst into prominence in 2013 following her remarkable victory over the Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui in the final showdown of the BWF World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China to become the youngest player to win the world title, a few days ago went down in hard-fought three games to Wang Yihan in their Group B round-robin preliminaries of the top-flight competition.
However, with a stunning win over world No.6 Wang Shixian in straight games in their last preliminary match on Friday, Ratchanok finished second in Group B to grab a semi-final berth. She was drawn to take on the same foe Wang Yihan in the semi-finals.
The Saturday's disappointing loss had stretched the Wang’s unbeaten record against Ratchanok to 12 in a row, while the Thai shuttler has yet won a match over the formidable Chinese.
