BANGKOK (AFP) – India crashed out of Thailand’s Uber Cup yesterday after women’s badminton superstar PV Sindhu came up short against local crowd favourite Ratchanok Intanon.
Thailand will now progress to the women’s semi-finals against China, while Japan will meet Korea today.
Spurred on by a rowdy crowd, eighth-ranked Intanon – a former world champion – fought back from one game down to beat Tokyo bronze medallist Sindhu 18-21, 21-17, 21-12.
Light on her feet, Intanon’s technical skills helped her battle the severe sideways drift on court.
“I know she is an attacking player… I was trying to be myself,” Intanon told reporters.
Fourth-ranked An Se-young from South Korea triumphed over Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt – who is 14th in the world – 18-21, 21-15, 21-18.
Earlier, world number one Akane Yamaguchi saw off Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying – a day after a surprise loss to Bilqis Prasista, a teenage Indonesian rookie ranked 333rd in the world.
Tai – ranked second in the world – pushed her Japanese 24-year-old opponent to three games but lost 10-21, 21-19, 19-21.
Meanwhile, Prasista, 18, managed to put up an admirable fight against China’s He Bing Jiao – ranked ninth in the world – dragging out play for three games.
But after losing the first game 25-year-old He sealed victory: 19-21, 21-18, 21-7.
