Hosts seal berth in Uber Cup quarters

Hosts seal berth in Uber Cup quarters

Danes also progress as Malaysia exit early

Thailand's women's doubles players Benyapa Aimsaard, left, and Nuntakarn Aimsaard.
Thailand's women's doubles players Benyapa Aimsaard, left, and Nuntakarn Aimsaard.

Hosts Thailand survived a scare before defeating Malaysia 4-1 for their second win in as many matches at the Uber Cup on Monday.

In the other Group C tie, Denmark comfortably beat Egypt 5-0 at Muang Thong Thani's Impact Arena.

Both Thailand, who blanked Egypt in their opening match on Sunday, and Denmark, who edged past Malaysia 3-2 in their first match, are 2-0 and have reached the quarter-finals.

Malaysia and Egypt were eliminated.

Thailand's world No.8 Ratchanok Intanon rallied to beat Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-14, 21-15 to give Thailand a 1-0 lead.

Jongkolphan Kittitharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, Thailand's top women's doubles pair, then lost to Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan 21-16, 19-21, 17-21.

Pornpawee Chochuwong restored Thailand's lead with a 22-20, 21-10 victory over Myisha Mohd Khairul.

Sisters Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard won the tie for the hosts after finishing off Valeree Siow and Teoh Mei Xing 21-9, 21-14.

In the final rubber, Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan beat Tan Zhing Yi 21-19, 21-6.

Thailand aim to reach at least the semi-finals of the Uber Cup.

When the Kingdom previously hosted the tournament in 2018, the Thai women stunned China in the semi-finals before losing to Japan in the final.

Ratchanok and Busanan were key members of that squad.

Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, has promised to give the Uber Cup and Thomas Cup teams two million baht for winning the title, one million baht for finishing second, 500,000 baht for claiming third place and 250,000 baht for reaching the quarter-finals.

In the other Group C game, Denmark had few problems against Egypt.

In the singles, Line Christophersen beat Doha Hany 21-10, 21-11, Line Hojmark Kjaersfeld defeated Nour Ahmed Youssri 21-6, 21-6 and Julie Dawall Jakobsen Hana finished off Hana Tarek Zaher 21-3, 21-7.

In the doubles, Amalie Schulz/Sara Thygesen beat Jana Ashraf/Jana Hesham Mohamed Abdelkader 21-10, 21-7 and Alexandra Boje/Amalie Magelund beat Youssri/Zaher 21-12, 21-11.

Meanwhile, the Thai men fought spiritedly in their opening Thomas Cup match on Sunday night but lost 3-2 to South Korea in Group A.

The Thais were playing Indonesia in their second match on Monday night.

The tournament ends on Sunday.

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