Tanongsak the third Thai to capture men’s singles title at Thailand Open
Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and Putita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai made the country proud on Sunday to capture the men’s singles and women’s doubles gold medals at the 2016 SCG Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championships.
A total of four Thai shuttlers made it to the final round of the six-day event at the Nimibutr Gymnasium. World No.26 Tanongsak, 26, who made his international debut in the 1999 Vietnam Open, won his first title of the year when he stunned the 2012 winner Sony Dwi Kuncoro from Indonesia 21-15 21-16 in the men’s singles showdown.
Tanongsak has yet made it to the final in any tournament this year. His best performances were the semi-finals in the Chinese Taipei Open, China Masters and Thailand Masters. His opponent Sony Dwi Kuncoro is current world No.32 and has already captured the Singapore Open this year.
With the exceptional win, Tanongsak became the third Thai in history to win the men’s singles title at the Thailand Open. Sompol Kukasemkij handed Thailand the first-ever men’s singles tile in 1990 and Boonsak Ponsana, current world No.30, repeated the similar feat for the host country when he won it in 2004.
Japanese Aya Ohori, world No.35 and bronze medallist at this year’s Japan Open, smashed Thailand’s sweet dreams of making a clean sweep of both singles titles. The 20-year-old left-hander overpowered world No.16, third-seeded and the Indonesian Masters champion Busanan Ongbamrungpan 25-23 21-8 to dominate the women’s singles event.
Earlier, Putita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai lived up to their top billing in the women’s doubles event on Sunday. The Thai top seeds and world No.15 won their second title of the year when the duo outclassed fifth seeds Wakana Nagahara/Mayu Matsumoto from Japan without much effort 21-12 21-17.
The scintillating win also made Putita and Sapsiree, who have already snatched the Polish Open early this year, the second-ever Thai women’s pairing to win the Thailand Open. In 2012, Lam Narissapat/Saralee Thungthongkam handed Thailand the first women’s doubles gold from this top-flight competition.
Meanwhile, Indonesian second seeds Rian Agung Saputro/Berry Angriawan came from behind to beat Japanese Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko 17-21 21-14 21-18 for the men’s doubles title, while the mixed doubles gold went to Malaysians Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing following their 21-16 22-20 win over Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet.
SUNDAY’S FINALS (prefix denotes seedings)
Men’s singles: 5-Tanongsak Saengsomboonsuk (Thailand) b 2-Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia) 21-15 21-16
Women’s singles: Aya Ohori (Japan) b 3-Busanan Ongbamrungpan (Thailand) 25-23 21-8
Women’s doubles: 1-Putita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand) b 5-Wakana Nagahara/Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) 21-12 21-17
Men’s doubles: 2-Rian Agung Saputro/Berry Angriawan (Indonesia) b Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko (Japan) 17-21 21-14 21-18
Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia) b Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong) 21-16 22-20
