Thailand vanquish champs Korea in Sudirnam Cup

Thailand vanquish champs Korea in Sudirnam Cup

Clinical Ratchanok beats An, gets the third point

Thailand knock out reigning champions South Korea to reach the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup in Nanning, China, on Thursday.
Thailand knock out reigning champions South Korea to reach the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup in Nanning, China, on Thursday.

Ratchanok Intanon gave Thailand the decisive third point as the Kingdom's shuttlers knocked out reigning champions South Korea to reach the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup mixed-team world championships in Nanning, China, on Thursday night.

The Thai world No.7 defeated the 50th-ranked An Se-Young 21-15, 21-17 in the women's singles to give Thailand a 3-1 unbeatable lead in their quarter-final tie at press time.

The victory was a sweet revenge for Thailand, who lost to the Koreans in the last four two years ago.

Thailand will play either 10-time champions China in Saturday's semi-finals.

Thailand got off to an excellent start when mixed doubles stars Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai teamed up to beat Seo Seung-Jae and Chae Yu-Jung 21-18, 21-18.

Kantaphon Wangcharoen made it 2-0 for Thailand with a 21-17, 21-17 win over Heo Kwang-Hee in the men's singles event.

Kang Min-Hyuk and Kim Won-Ho kept the Koreans in the tie after coming from behind to beat Tinn Isriyanet and Kittinupong Kedren 19-21, 21-17, 21-14 in 63 gruelling minutes.

Former world champion Ratchanok made sure there was no repeat of an upset An pulled off against world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan a day earlier with a clinical performance against the 17-year-old South Korean schoolgirl, who won the New Zealand Open earlier this month.

Malaysia meet Japan while Taiwan take on Indonesia in the other two quarter-final match-ups on Friday.

Patama's new role

Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, has been elected as BWF deputy president following elections at yesterday's Badminton World Federation Annual General Meeting in Nanning.

Patama secured a majority victory over Chinese Badminton Association president, Zhang Jun. The 54-year-old Patama currently sits on the executive board of the BWF and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. She will preside in the role of BWF deputy president for a two-year term from 2019-2021.

During her address, Patama spoke of increased diversity, reach and opportunity within the sport and championed the concepts of sport for all and outdoor badminton.

"I am very thankful for being elected BWF deputy president. I am very humbled by this announcement and thank you to the members for trusting me. I will do my best for the sport of badminton," Patama said.

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