Ratchanok defeats Tai again

Ratchanok defeats Tai again

Dechapol and Sapsiree fight back to reach mixed doubles semi-finals at Malaysia Masters

Thailand's mixed doubles duo Sapsiree Taerattanachai, front, and Dechapol Puavaranukroh.
Thailand's mixed doubles duo Sapsiree Taerattanachai, front, and Dechapol Puavaranukroh.

Defending champion Ratchanok Intanon defeated top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying to reach the semi-finals of the US$350,000 Malaysia Masters badminton tournament on Friday.

The Thai sixth seed, who beat the Taiwanese in the title match last year, again got the better of the error-strewn top seed as she cruised to a 21-13, 21-14 victory in just 31 minutes at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

Ratchanok will be up against local hope Goh Jin Wei in Saturday's semis after the unseeded Malaysian upset fifth seed He Bingjiao of China 21-15, 21-16.

Carolina Marin and Saina Nehwal will square off in the other semi-final after both players came through their last-eight matches in straight games.

Fourth seed Marin of Spain eased past Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea 21-13, 21-13 in 38 minutes while Indian seventh seed Nehwal upset second seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-18, 23-21.

Second seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai also made it to the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event.

The second seeded pair rallied after losing the first game to win 18-21, 21-14, 21-18 against Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia in a 56-minute thriller.

They will play either Dutch duo Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek or English fourth seeds Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock in the last four on Saturday.

Top seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino will meet third seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia in the other semi-final.

The Malaysian duo beat Dechapol and Sapsiree to win the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters last Sunday.

South Korea's Son Wan-Ho became the first player to reach the last four of the men's singles event after a 21-23, 21-16, 21-17 victory over India's Srikanth Kidambi.

Son will play either China's Shi Yuqi or Malaysia's Daren Yiew.

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