Home players triumph in two finals at Thailand Open badminton

Supanida Katethong, world No 16, scored an upset win over China’s Han Yue (No 7) in the final to clinch the women’s title. Her breakthrough victory, 21-16, 25-23, earned the Thai player a winner’s cheque for 1.13 million baht and the King’s trophy.

“I’m thrilled to win my first Super 500 tournament title,” Supanida said, crediting support from the home crowd for boosting her confidence. She also thanked her South Korean coach Kim Ji-hoon for honing her skills over the past two years.

Thai world No 10 pairing Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai gave the crowd more to cheer about by beating Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi (No 18) in the final of the women’s doubles.

Jongkolphan and Rawinda eased to a 21-14, 21-14 victory to earn 1.19 million baht and their first title in three years since winning the 2021 Orléans Masters in France.

The pairing thanked the home crowd, adding that the win showed they were on good form ahead of this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Thailand fared less well in the mixed doubles final, where world No 6 pairing Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai lost to China’s Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui 12-21, 21-12, 21-18).

The Chinese duo, ranked fifth in the world, grabbed the trophy and 1.19 million baht while the Thais had to settle for 574,000 baht.

Thai badminton stars are back in action at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur from Tuesday to Sunday this week.