Ratchanok Intanon yesterday vowed to regain the world title after winning the Asian crown.
Ratchanok Intanon bows to spectators after defeating Li Xuerui. afp
The Thai defeated China's Li Xuerui to win the women's singles title at the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, China on Sunday.
The 2013 world champion beat the Olympic winner 20-22, 23-21, 21-12 to become the first Thai player to take home the women's singles title at the continental tournament.
"I am very happy to win the title,'' the 20-year-old said after returning home yesterday. "I was confident that I would win the title because I was fully fit."
She said her next target was to win back the world title.
"I will try to win the world title again but I won't put too much pressure on myself,'' she said.
Ratchanok also defeated Li in the final at the 2013 world championships in Guangzhou to become the first Thai badminton player to win a world title.
This year's world championships will be held in Indonesia in August.
Her manager Kamala Thongkorn said she wanted Ratchanok to crack into the world's top four for an easier path at the 2016 Olympics.
"I will not allow her to take part in too many [promotional] events as this will affect her training,'' she said.
Lee gets backdated ban
Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei yesterday was cleared to resume his career and pursuit of Olympic gold when he received an eight-month, backdated ban for doping.
The former long-time world No.1 can return to the court as early as this week after the Badminton World Federation found he "accidentally" ingested a banned substance.
Lee, 32, who is eligible to resume competition on May 1, had warned he would retire if he was hit with a possible two-year ban that would have ruled him out of next year's Olympics.
He was delighted with the outcome of a process which began at last August's world championships, when he tested positive for the banned anti-inflammatory dexamethasone.
"I'm quite happy," Lee told reporters at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. "I am very happy to go back to the court."
The BWF said an anti-doping panel found Lee had been "negligent" by ingesting the substance, which was in contaminated capsules containing a food supplement.
But it was satisfied Lee did not set out to cheat, after studying evidence given at a hearing in the Netherlands.
"The panel is convinced this is not a case of doping with intent to cheat," the panel found, according to a BWF statement. bangkok post/afp