Bangkok: Men’s doubles top seeds Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia were pushed to the limit by No. 2 seeds from South Koreans Kim Gi-Jung/Kim Sa-Rang in the 2016 Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters finals on Saturday they were crowned the champions.
The Indonesian pair was forced to dig deep to beat the Koreans 12-21, 21-15, 21-12 in a 43 minutes encounter. The win was Ahsan/Setiawan’s sixth victory against both Kims in their eight career meetings.
It was a one-sided affair in mixed doubles final, where No. 2 seeds Malaysians Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying went down fighting 17-21, 15-21 against unseeded Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen of China in in 38 minutes.
In women’s singles final, Thailand favorite Ratchanok Intanon was trailed 1-6 in the third set, before she showed her steely will to put on a gutsy turnaround, coming from behind to beat world No. 11 Sun Yu of China 21-19, 18-21, 21 -17 for the women’s singles crown.
“I was very tired in the third set and thought I would lose the match. But, I did not want to disappoint my fans, and hanged in there knowing that she was tired as well,” said Ratchanok who won her eight career title and her first in eight months after winning the Indonesia Super Series Premier in June last year.
Ratchanok will rise to World No. 4 in the Badminton World Federation rankings that will be release next Thursday after her Thailand GPG victory.
The ageless defending champion South Korean men’s singles shuttler Lee Hyun-Il held off No. 3 seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-19 to pocket the men’s singles title.
No. 3 seeds women’s doubles Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei were taken the distance by compatriots and No. 5 seeds Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang. Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei dropped the first set 11-21, before reclaiming the second set 21-12. Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang had match point in the third with 21-20, but Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei held their nerves to wriggle past Tang/Yu 23-21 in the third and claimed the title.
