China’s star shuttlers are to be tested by Thailand’s dark-horse women’s team and Indonesia’s men in the last four of the Uber and Thomas Cups, with Japan also grabbing spots in both semi-finals after a dramatic knockout stage on Thursday.
The prestigious biennial event has brought together 16 top teams from five continents for a week of intense competition in Bangkok for the men’s Thomas Cup and the women’s Uber Cup.
The day’s most exhilarating moment came when Thailand’s women edged into the final four, with Busanan Ongbamrungphan sparking jubilation among the home crowd by winning the final women’s singles 9-21, 12-21 to seal a 3-2 win against Indonesia.
Photo: AFP
Thailand’s star player, world No. 4 Ratchanok Intanon, started the tie well for the home side, demolishing Indonesia’s Fitriani Fitriani in the first game.
However, the visitors won the next two points, before a Thai doubles pair matched their score and Busanan finally broke the draw, sending her team rushing onto the court to embrace each other and dance before an ecstatic crowd.
“I am really happy that I can make one point for my team,” 22-year-old Busanan said.
However, taking on China — the reigning champions who have won the Uber cup 14 times — will be “very tough,” Busanan said.
In Thomas Cup action, China’s star-stacked men secured their final-four spot early in the day with a 3-0 wipeout of Taiwan.
The only stumble came when world No. 5 Chen Long dropped one game against Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, although he bounced back to finish the job 21-18, 10-21, 21-14.
A tense match to determine who would face top seeds China then followed between arch-rivals Malaysia and Indonesia — who were runners-up in the 2016 Thomas Cup.
Malaysia’s veteran player Lee Chong Wei stole the first point 21-19, 21-16 from Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, but Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo — the world’s No. 1 doubles pair — put their nation back on track with a 21-19, 20-22, 21-13 win against Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong.
Eying a shot at both trophies, Japan rolled into the semi-finals after their top-seeded women overcame an early scare from Taiwan and the men outclassed France 3-1.
The women clawed back a win following the first match 21-19, 21-16 defeat of world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi by Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, who ranks higher than her.
They rebounded with doubles pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota tearing through their rivals in the next match, followed by a routine 21-11, 21-12 win by singles world champion Nozomi Okuhara.
The women were to face South Korea yesterday, while the men were to have a rougher ride against Denmark — whose team made history in 2016 by becoming the first non-Asian country to take home the Thomas trophy.
The Danes on Thursday took down Korea 3-0 to continue their run at retaining the title.
World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, who had lost a match the night before to Lee, regained his rhythm on Thursday to beat South Korea’s Son Wan-ho, who is one rank below him, 21-14, 14-21, 22-20.
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