The teenaged Thai Ratchanok Intanon won her first Badminton World Championship title when she upset Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the women’s singles yesterday to end China’s decade of domination in the event.
In the men’s singles, Lin Dan overcame a year off to retain his title with another closely fought battle with old adversary Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who retired and was taken off court on a stretcher at match point down in the third set.
Lin’s win was his fifth world championship and China’s sixth consecutive one in the men’s singles, but their proud run in the women’s event ended.
Photo: Reuters
Ratchanok, 18, beat Li 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 in Guangzhou, China, to become the first Thai to win the world championship and first non-Chinese woman since Denmark’s Camilla Martin lifted the title at home in 1999.
World No. 1 Li led 19-12 in the opening set, but Ratchanok came storming back to take it 22-20, the first set the Chinese had dropped all week.
Ratchanok nudged ahead 15-14 in the tight second, before Li recovered to force a decider that the Thai was always in control of.
Photo: Reuters
Her victory comes weeks after Thailand suffered its darkest day in the sport, when former doubles partners Maneepong Jongjit and Bodin Issara brawled on court in the final of the Canadian Open, leading to lengthy bans.
In the first final of five at the Tianhe Sports Center yesterday, controversial duo Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, who were kicked out of the London Olympics in the play-to-lose scandal, claimed the women’s doubles title over Jang Ye-na and Eom Hye-won of South Korea.
The Chinese top seeds won 21-14, 18-21, 21-8 to retain the title they won in London two years ago in what home fans had predicted would be the first of four titles for the world’s most populous nation.
However, Ratchanok then beat Li, before Chinese top seeds Chen Xu and Jin Ma were beaten 21-13, 16-21, 22-20 by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia in the mixed doubles.
Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan followed their compatriots by claiming the men’s doubles title with a comprehensive 21-13, 23-21 win over Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in 33 minutes.
That brought Lin and Lee to the court for the showpiece men’s singles and the old rivals served up another classic encounter.
It was nip and tuck in the first set between the duo, who contested the Olympic final last year, with Lee breaking out from a 13-13 tie to take it 21-16.
Olympic champion Lin wasted little time leveling the contest as he raced ahead 12-1 in the second set, thanks to a run of seven consecutive points.
Lin wrapped it up 21-13 to make it one set all, but Malaysian media were unhappy, reporting that the air conditioning had been switched off in the venue by the Chinese organizers, to Lee’s disadvantage.
Lee, though, took a 10-6 lead in the third set and looked on course to claim a first world championship title after many years of near misses, only for Lin to storm back.
The Chinese, known as “Super Dan,” went ahead 20-17, before Lee called it quits to leave Lin celebrating a fifth world title.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
RSS