Pannawit upsets second seed Dey for semi-final spot

The 21-year-old sweetheart of former world No 1 Ratchanok Intanon is one of the four Thai players to advance into the semi-finals of the tournament.

“I was playing up to my level even though I rushed a bit too much and made easy mistakes at some point. In the second game I was trailing a few points down but I raised my level and tried not to give him easy shots,” said the 97^th ranked Pannawit who will take on Teck Zhi Soo of Malaysia, the 166^th ranked opponent who beat him in all two previous meets in 2015 and 2013.

“It will be 50-50 per cent against him as he is a tough player. I hope to do my best and return him the favour this time,” added Pannawit,  looking for his first International Challenge final after losing the semi-finals in the 2014 Vietnam Challenge and 2016 Malaysia Challenge.

His brother Parinyawat also moved on in his mixed doubles mission, teaming up with Phataimas Muenwong to beat Malaysia’s Tang Jie Chen and Jia Jia Tew 21-14 21-12.

In the women’s singles, Pattarasuda Chaiwan dismissed Sarita Suwannakitborihan 21-15 19-21 21-15 to set up a match with Japanese seventh seed Natsuki Nidaira.