|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
NEWS
|
Thai girl takes second singles title
Source : IBF
|
|
Thailand are celebrating two women’s singles titles in a month, as Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn added the Chinese Bank Hong Kongtitle to her SEA Games gold medal earlier today.
But teammate Boonsak Polsana failed to make it a double singles celebration, losing out to the second seeded Shon Seung Mo in the men’s singles final.
Ekmongkolpaisarn, who’s only dropped one game throughout her Hong Kong campaign, ousted Indonesia’s Dewi Tira in her semi-final yesterday to arrange a meeting with the tournament’s top seed, Jun Jae Youn of Korea. Jun reached the semi-finals of the USearlier this month and was hoping for glory in Hong Kong to make up for her disappointment.
But the young Thai has had her eye on the title from day one, punishing all of her early round opponents with quick victories – not even Jun was spared, as Ekmongkolpaisarn clinically finished the job 7/4, 8/6, 7/0 to claim the 1* title and a share of the US$30,000 prize money.
Just like his teammate, Boonsak Polsana pulled off some devastating wins en route to the final. After his loss in the SEA Games final against Malaysian Roslin Hashim, Polsana was hungry for victory – and how close he came.
Following the withdrawal of top seed Indra Wijaya before the start of the competition, the young Thai became the tournament’s second favourite, behind Korean Shon. The two progressed as expected to the final – Shon beating World Junior runner-up in his semi-final, and Polsana ousting the last local hope, Ng Wei.
In a fiery final, Shon took the early lead, winning the first game 7/2, but the Thai quickly levelled the match. The third and fourth games were desperately close – Shon pulled ahead once more 8/7 in the third game, but not to be outdone Polsana wrestled himself back into the match, taking the fourth game 8/7 and forcing the fifth deciding game.
It was all too much for the young Thai, whose commitment in the previous four games had left nothing in reserve. Shon took the fifth game, and the title – 7/2, 4/7, 8/7, 7/8, 7/3.
As well as the men’s singles title, Korea took the men’s and mixed doubles crowns as well.
Top seeds Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung struggled in their semi-final against Malaysian’s Chang Kim Wai and Hong Chien Hun, and were stretched to the full five games before claiming victory. But such a struggle was not to be had in today’s final against hosts Kwun Yuen Yau and Albertus Susanto Njoto. The Olympic silver medallists were in a different class, and barely broke sweat to claim the title 7/1, 7/2, 7/3.
Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min won their first title since the 5* Koreain January when they overcame Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Saralee Thungthongkam, but not before a rocky start. The former world champions lost the first game before asserting their grip on the match, 3/7, 7/0, 7/2, 7/2.
Thailand were represented in a fourth final - the women’s doubles by Saralee Thungthongkam and Sathinee Chankrachangwong, but fell at the last hurdle once again. They were beaten by Singapore’s top seeds Zhen Liu and Luxi Xiao. The plucky second seeded Thai girls weren’t about to bow out without a fight, forcing the Singaporeans to five games. Liu and Xiao eventually emerged victorious 8/6, 3/7, 2/7, 8/7, 7/3, providing some consolation to the Singapore camp after Wijaya’s withdrawal through injury. |
|
September 30, 2001  |
|
|
|
