Ratchanok roars but Thai shuttlers lose final to Malaysia
Thai badminton players fought hard but failed to match the might of a Malaysia powered by world No 1 Lee Chong Wei, going down 3-1 in the finals of the US$1-million Axiata Cup team badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Lee, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, was making his tournament debut in a bid to boost the hosts’ chances of winning the top prize of US$400,000 (almost Bt12 million).
Thailand, who pulled off a stunning 3-0 victory over defending champions Indonesia in the semi-finals on Saturday, drew first blood when teen prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon crushed world No 41 Sonia Cheah in their first-ever meeting, 21-17 21-15, in the opening tie.
“The crowd was definitely behind Sonia, but this atmosphere is quite normal to me. I arrived in Kuala Lumpur fully prepared,” said Ratchanok, the world No 8.
“I had only one thing in mind – to win a point for my team,” said the 18-year-old Thai, who finished undefeated in the world’s richest mixed team badminton event.
With the stadium rocking, world No 5 Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying faced their nemesis Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thoung-thongkam, the world No 6 pair who had beaten the Malaysians on all three occasions they met last year, including in the London Olympics.
But the Thai mixed duo failed to stretch that streak as the young Malaysians turned on the style to clinch the battle 21-16 21-15 and level the match 1-1.
In the men’s singles rubber, southpaw Tanongsak Saensomboonsak, who lost his semi-final clash to Lee in the recent All-England Championships, found the nine-time Malaysian Open winner too hard a nut to crack and went down 21-12 21-18.
The Thais had their backs to the wall in the do-or-die men’s doubles encounter. They needed a straight two-game victory to level the tie and win the match on a count-back of rubbers.
However, things turned sour for Thailand when veteran Boonsak Ponsana and Songphon Anugritayawon proved no match for Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, world No 2 and bronze medallists at the London Games, going down 21-10 21-17.
Malaysia claimed $400,000 while Thailand as runners-up brought home $200,000 (just over Bt5.8 million).
The third-place play-off saw All-Star Asia stun title-holders Indonesia 3-1 to claim $150,000, with the Indonesians receiving $100,000.
