PETALING JAYA: Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard claimed a sensational upset to storm into the final of the Thailand Open.
The home pair and sisters stunned last week’s Malaysian Masters champions Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee of South Korea 21-17, 21-7 in the last four at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok yesterday.
World No. 12 Benyapa-Nuntakarn played with aggression and intelligence throughout to come away with the huge win over the world No. 2 Koreans much to the delight of the home fans.
The former, who had captured the Thailand Masters in January, will face either teammates Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai or another Korean pair, Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong for the title today.
In the women’s singles, South Korea’s world No. 2 An Se-young set up a showdown with China’s world No. 5 He Bingjiao.
Se-young was impressive in her 21-16, 21-12 victory over Spain’s three-time world champion and 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin.
Meanwhile, Bingjiao reached her first final of the year after defeating Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt 21-13, 21-18 in the other last-four match.
In the final, Bingjiao holds the advantage as she has beaten Se-young four times in their six encounters.
The latter, though, came out on top in their last two meetings at the Indian Open in January and German Open in March.
In the men’s doubles, China’s Indian Open champions Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang booked their spot in the final after overcoming Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya 21-13, 21-19.
The former will take on either South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho or another Indonesian pair Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana in the final.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya (Ina) 21-13, 21-19.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Carolina Marin (Spa) 21-16, 21-12; He Bingjia (Chn) bt Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-13, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-17, 21-7.
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) 21-10, 21-11; Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun (Kor) bt Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe) 15-21, 21-15, 21-15.
