Intanon makes it 3 in 3, becomes world No. 1
Singapore, April 17
Thai star Ratchanok beat defending champion Sun Yu of China to claim her third successive Superseries win in as many weeks after triumphs in India and Malaysia.
Ratchanok, the 2013 world champion, will displace Spain’s Carolina Marin as number one when the weekly world rankings are updated on Thursday.
Despite losing 18-21 in the first game as the lanky Sun Yu put her superior reach to better use, Ratchanok coasted to a 21-11 victory in the second.
She clinched the third game 21-14 as her opponent appeared rattled by several errors and a yellow card shown by the match referee.
“I think I performed better in the first game but I got nervous during the last two,” Sun Yu, ranked 14th in the world, told reporters after the match.
Ratchanok, who has now established herself as one of the favourites for the Olympics gold, said the win would give her a boost for Rio. “Now I am more confident to get a gold at the Olympic Games,” she said.
“I thought that today would not be my day and she was playing well. My body was tired from the past few weeks but I just wanted to do my best.”
Fairy tale run
The unfancied Kuncoro, who stunned two-time Olympics champion Lin Dan in the semifinals, took the first game 21-16.
But some bad decision-making cost the 31-year-old dearly when he succumbed 13-21 in the second game.
Recovering his composure, the 2004 Olympic Games bronze medallist claimed the deciding game 21-14.
Kuncoro, ranked 56th in the world, said he was surprised by his fairy tale run.
“It’s really unexpected that I won. It’s such a big achievement to pass the qualifiers and eventually win this tournament,” he said. “I just enjoyed today’s game and was able to play well.”
This is Kuncoro’s second title in the city-state after winning the tournament in 2010.
Top-ranked players were scalped early on in the tournament. On Friday, world No. 1s Chen Long of China and Marin crashed out in the quarterfinals, unceremoniously shown the door by young upstarts.
Chen fell to Hong Kong’s 21-year-old Angus Ng, while Marin succumbed in three sets to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.
Lin became the latest casualty on Saturday when he suffered a stunning semifinal defeat at the hands of eventual winner Kuncoro. — AFP
