Khunakorn, Saralee beaten in mixed final

Yvonne Bohwongprasert

Thai pairs lost all three of their matches on the penultimate day of the JVC Asian Badminton Championships yesterday at Nimibutr Gymnasium in front of hundreds of local fans and dignitaries.

The top-seeded mixed doubles duo of Khunakorn Suddhisodhi and Saralee Thungthongkam blew two comprehensive leads in their final against Olympians Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China and lost 11-7, 11-8. It was the first time that a Thai mixed doubles team had reached the finals in the Asian Championships since 1991.

After a great run of form by both sets of players throughout the tournament, the Thais began in scintillating style by accumulating an effortless 5-1 lead, with points being scored from all parts of the court. But then the left-handed Zhang's powerful smashes turned the game around in the Chinese pair's favour, with Gao giving maximum support at the net to make it 5-5.

The Thais started to lose confidence and made a number of unforced errors. A handful of good rallies followed but the first game went in China's favour when Gao hit a smash right at Saralee's body to take the first game 11-7.

Once again in the second game the Thais began impressively by taking a 7-3 lead, Khunakorn and Saralee dominating with smashes and cross-court shots executed to perfection.

But just when everyone thought the Thais were about to make it a set apiece, the Chinese stormed back in by taking advantage of unforced errors made by the Thai duo.

With the scores tied at 8-8, the Chinese could smell victory and at match point Gao responded to a weak lob by Saralee with a smash down the line for the title.

A misty-eyed Khunakorn said after the match that they had made too many unforced errors, and should have capitalised on their leads.

``It's really very disappointing,'' said the Busan Games silver medallist.

``We actually played very well today, but were unfortunate to have had so many unforced errors creep into our game because we got tense about getting Zhang's smashes all the time.

``This made us lose concentration and our own game fell apart.''

Another narrow defeat for the Thais came in the semi-finals of the men's doubles.

Third seeds Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas were beaten 17-16, 15-7 by top Indonesians Chandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto.

The Busan Games silver medallists had a great chance of clinching the first game, but were piped right at the death when at 16-16, Pramote lost his cool and hit a smash into the net.

The Indonesians raced into a 4-0 lead in the second game before the more experience Pramote to play well from the back court to make the score 7-7. But after that everything went downhill for the local boys, and at match point Budiarto hit a cross-court shot to send the Indonesians to the final.

Fifth seeds Wijaya and Budiarto will today meet South Korean top seeds Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Dong-moon, who beat Indonesia's Halim Heryanto and Tri Kusharjanto 15-6,15-12.

Thailand's women's doubles duo of Saralee and Sathinee Chankrachangwong also lost, being beaten 11-6, 11-2 by the experienced Chinese duo of Zhong Jiewen and Yang Wei.

National coach Siripong Siripool said that it was unfortunate that the Thai pairs lost all three matches yesterday.

``My biggest disappoint was our failure to win the mixed doubles and our narrow defeat in the men's doubles,'' said the former national doubles player. ``We have to map out a new strategy to help our players improve their return of serve. They have to also learn to win points under pressure. So there is a lot of homework for us to do for the tournaments next year.''

RESULTS

Mixed Doubles final: 7-Zhang Jun and Gao Ling, China, def. 1-Khunakorn Suddhisodhi and Saralee Thungthongkham, Thailand, 11-7, 11-8.

Men's Singles semi-finals: 4-Taufik Hidayat, Indonesia, def. 1-Xia Xuanze, China, 15-2, 15-12; Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Indonesia, def. 2-Chen Hong, China, 15-5, 15-1.

Men's Doubles semi-finals: 1-Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Dong-moon, South Korea, def. 4-Halim Heryanto and Tri Kusharjanto, Indonesia, 15-6, 15-12; 5-Chandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, Indonesia, def. 3-Pramote Theerawiwat and Thessana Phanvissawat, Thailand, 17-16, 15-7.

Women's Singles semi-finals: 1-Zhou Mi, China, def. Xiao Luxi, Singapore, 11-0, 11-1; 3-Zhang Ning, China, def. 2-Wang Chen, Hong Kong, 11-2, 11-4.

Women's Doubles semi-finals: 1-Gao Ling and Huang Sui, China, def. Wei Yili and Zhao Tingting, China, 11-5, 11-1; Zhong Jiewen and Yang Wei, China, def. 2-Saralee Thungthongkham and Sathinee Chankrajangwong, Thailand, 11-6, 11- 2.