Aimsaard sisters in Thai Masters final
Supanida and men's doubles duo bow out
published : 5 Feb 2023 at 04:00
newspaper section: Sports
Thai sisters Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard advanced to the women's doubles final of the US$210,000 BWF Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters at Nimibutr Stadium yesterday.
Benyapa and Nuntakarn, who were runners-up at the season-ending World Tour Finals 2022, are the only Thai players left in the Super 300 event after Supanida Katethong and men's doubles pair Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren bowed in the semi-finals yesterday.
Second seeds Benyapa and Nuntakarn defeated China's Tan Ning and Xia Yuting 21-16, 21-18 and will play Baek Ha-Na and Lee So-Hee in the title showdown today.
The Koreans upset fifth seeds Li Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan of China 21-16, 21-19.
The 25th-ranked Supanida lost to world No.18 Zhang Yiman of China 21-15, 18-21, 20-22 in the women's singles semi-final.
Seventh seed Zhang will face fourth seed Han Yue in today's final after the Chinese eased past Taiwan's Hsu Wen-chi 21-11, 21-11.
In the men's doubles event, fourth seeds Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia denied Thai pair Supak and Kittinupong 18-21, 21-17, 21-17.
They will play Su Ching-heng and Ye Hong-wei in the final after Taiwanese upset third seeds Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia 21-17, 13-21, 21-19.
In the semi-finals of the men's singles contest, Taiwan's Lin Chun-yi beat China's Shi Yuqi 21-15, 21-19 while fourth seed Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong rallied to overcome sixth seed Li Shifeng of China 19-21, 21-8, 21-19 in a 64-minute encounter.
The mixed doubles decider will be between sixth seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping of China and Seo Seung-Jae and Chae Yu-Jung of South Korea.
The Chinese pair beat Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito of Japan 21-18, 21-11 while the Korean duo beat compatriots Kim Won-Ho and Jeong Na-Eun 21-13, 15-21, 22-20 in yesterday's semi-finals.
