Ratchanok roars into Thai badminton final

BANGKOK: Two-time winner Ratchanok Intanon edged a thriller against compatriot Pornpawee Chochuwong to reach the final of the Thailand Open on home soil Saturday.

Former world champion Ratchanok, 24, cut Pornpawee’s rousing comeback short as she won in three games 23-21, 17-21, 21-19 in front of a packed home crowd. In Sunday’s final she will face Chinese top seed Chen Yufei, who is yet to drop a game after beating Sayaka Takahashi 21-16, 21-19. Ratchanok faced unseeded Pornpawee in a boisterous atmosphere at the Indoor Stadium Huamark as the former world number one continued her quest for a third title in Bangkok.

Victory was sheer jubilation for the third-seeded Ratchanok, who had to dig deep as she found herself trailing in the third game before recovering aggressively. Elsewhere, Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan beat Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in straight games to reach the men’s final where he will play Hong Kong’s Angus Ng, who upset reigning champion Kanta Tsuneyama 21-9, 23-21. In doubles, Chinese third seeds Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen will play unseeded Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty for the men’s title.

The women’s final will see Du Yue and Li Yinhui, the eighth seeds from China, play Japanese seventh seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto.