So May is the ultimate champion and her fans are oozing with joy. In gratefulness May knelt down in prayer and then throws her racket to the appreciative crowd.
Finally, Greysia Polii won a GPG title after years of effort. Her renewed partnership with Nitya Krishinda Maheswari should be promising enough for a top 8 ranking. However, they are expected to be above that...perhaps to be one of the top 5 pairs. Meanwhile, Riky Widianto/Richi Puspita Dili lost in the second consecutive Final as Markis Kido/Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth won their first GPG title and solidify their position as one of the top 10 pair.
Crowning of august May The prize ceremony in Thailand is distinct and unique. The Thai King is always revered and remembered first before one's personal success. So May has to take her trophy from a table decorated with I think pictures of the Royalty before ascending to the dais for the formalities and photographs.
So INA won 2 titles here, IND, KOR and the host shared 1 title each. The biggest upset should be MS, Indian youngster Srikanth K. eliminated home fave Boonsak Ponsana in straight-sets, congrats to all winners
Thailand Open: Saina Nehwal Crashes Out By IndiaTimes June 7, 2013, 6:59 pm IST - Posted 2 days ago BANGKOK: Defending champion Saina Nehwal's hopes of retaining her Thailand Grand Prix Gold title went up in smoke as she suffered a stunning three-game defeat to Singapore's Juan Gu in the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition on Friday. The world number two Indian lost 21-13, 12-21, 18-21 to eighth seed Juan in a 53-minute match at the Nimitbutr National Stadium. This was Saina's first defeat to the Singaporean in six encounters. In the first game, Saina opened up a slender 4-2 lead but Juan continuously put pressure on her and caught up with the Indian at 9-9. The 23-year-old from Hyderabad then registered two points to move into the breather with a two-point cushion. Saina then slowly started widening the gap and accumulated points at will to pocket the first game. World number 23 Juan came back strongly in the second round and turned the heat on Saina, moving into the break at 11-7. The China-born Singaporean didn't give Saina much chance to fight back and roared into the contest at 21-12. Saina begun the decider with a 5-2 lead but Juan turned the tables soon to hold the advantage at 11-10. Saina once again bounced back to lead 15-13 but the Singaporean showed immense character in wresting back the lead at 19-15 and then shut the door on the Indian.
INA has been showing recently at every opportunity, that their doubles players are improving by leaps and bounds. Plus, they are showing more depth and bench strength. That is a very good sign. Congratulations to May! She has begun cultivating the winning habit, and that is bad news for other top players! Plus, she's only 17 years old... or 18... but Thailand is another country showing great depth of players in WS and a bit in WD as well. Thailand on the whole has been a hugely improved badminton power over the past 2 years! YYS is back for Korea, and that is good news for their MD teams. He immediately made the difference to his partnership. KSH should take note.... IND bunch of MS players are beginning to make their presence felt at almost all tournaments. Most of the young guys can cause an upset on any given day, and no one can afford to take them lightly anymore, as even Boonsak discovered. Another great tournament has just ended, and the only sour note was the unavailability of live streaming at any stage. Hopefully, that too will change!
May is 18 and still eligible for the WJC I think, unless they forbid her to win more than three times! Perhaps Busanan,17, should succeed her and leave May to exploit the adult SS.
Although Ratchanok Intanon (S2) won the SCG Thailand Open 2013 WS title beating Busanan Ongbumrungpan (S7), the match was no walk in the park. It took RI 1.21 hours to subdue BO with the score line of 22-20, 19-21, 13-21. BO is one of those talents recently churned out by Thailand and one can bet the Thai women players will dominate the badminton world in the not too distant future. RI has already proven herself this year reaching four finals and winning two of them.
Thailand also has the SCG Badminton Academy where they try to groom young players to the international level. The young players live, attend school and train there. Sittihikom is from the academy, Sapsiree and Maneepong are products of the academy, among others.
Wow I like Greysia/Nitya combo already Ina WD has been improved tremendously Hopefully their momentum here carried out into home SS as well
