Just a few days from the royal funeral ceremony for the beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an inspired Ratchanok Intanon claimed her first Superseries title in 18 months, winning the Denmark Open.
above Kunlavut Vitidsarn holds the trophy and a portrait of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. PR
This time last year, right after the King's passing on Oct 13, Ratchanok's compatriot Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk defied all odds to win his first Superseries Premier title in Odense.
Ratchanok, who said in an Instagram post after her semi-final victory over world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying on Saturday that she felt the late King was looking down on her during the match against the Taiwanese, put on another spirited performance in Sunday's title match to bag the US$56,250 (approximately 1.85 million baht) winner's cheque.
The Thai world No.9 came from behind to beat defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 14-21, 21-15, 21-19 in the thrilling 66-minute final of the US$750,000 (25 million baht) tournament at Odense Sports Park on Sunday.
Ratchanok, 22, won two titles so far this season prior to Sunday's title match -- the Thailand Open in June and the New Zealand Open in August -- both Grand Prix Gold tournaments. She last won a Superseries tournament at the Singapore Open in April 2016.
For Yamaguchi, the victory at Odense in 2016 was the last time the 20-year-old won a Superseries level title. She defeated Tai in last year's final.
Earlier, eight seeds Tang Chun Man and Ter Ying Suet of Hong Kong saved four championship points to stun top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen of China in the mixed doubles final.
The Hong Kong pair defeated the Chinese pair 24-22, 19-21, 23-21 in 58 minutes to seal the title.
Lee So-Hee and Shin Seung Chan of South Korea upset sixth seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto of Japan 21-13, 21-16 to win the women's doubles title in the first final of the day.
Fifth seeds Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan of China were due to face Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the men's doubles final while Lee Hyun Il of South Korea and Indian eighth seed Srikanth Kidambi were to battle for the men's singles crown.
Kunlavut makes history
Kunlavut Vitidsarn added another glorious chapter to Thai badminton's remarkable story of progress when he became the first male shuttler from the Kingdom to win the world junior title on Sunday.
The 16-year-old rising star defeated arch-rival Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia 17-21, 21-15, 21-9 to claim the boys' title at the 2017 BWF World Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The victory was a sweet revenge for Kunlavut who had lost to Jun 21-19, 14-21, 21-23 in the semi-finals of the Asian Junior Championships in Indonesia in July. Jun also won the other meeting between the two.
Top seed Kunlavut, a product of Banthongyod badminton school like current women's world No.9 Ratchanok Intanon, was off to a slow start and had trouble handling Jun's fast-paced game.
After some coaching during the break, Kunlavut shook off the early jitters and was much more effective defensively as he took the second game to force the decider.
It was now Jun's turn to appear nervous and the Malaysian made some uncharacteristic mistakes as Kunlavut, looking increasingly confident, ran away with the third game to seal the title.
"I'm so happy to win the title today," said Kunlavut, the world's top-ranked junior player and Asia's U17 champion. "Becoming the first boys' singles winner from Thailand means a lot to me.
"I was way too nervous in the beginning. I was just thinking too much about winning and putting myself under a lot of pressure.
"But after the first game, the coach told me to calm down and we adjusted the game plan. I managed to turn things around and played my own game."
Thailand has produced champions in three categories at the BWF World Junior Championships.
Ratchanok was a triple winner of the girls' singles event from 2009-2011, Maneepong Jongjit and Rodjana Chuthabunditkul took the mixed doubles gold medal in 2009, while Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh won the boys' doubles title in 2014.
In the boys' singles, Adulrach Namkul claimed the bronze medal in 2015 and Kantaphon Wangcharoen also took the bronze last year.