Thai teenager Ratchanok Intanon took the women’s singles title at the badminton world championships in Guangzhou on Sunday, beating Olympic champion li Xuerui 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 in a massive upset.
Ratchanok, 18, becomes the first ever Thai player to win gold at the world championships after defeating 22-year-old top seed li, who was gunning for her first world title. The three-game thriller was a battle of technical skill and stamina, with Ratchanok pushing a more experienced li around the court with a sophisticated repertoire of shots. Ratchanok came back from 19-12 down in the first game to clinch it by two points, with a grim-faced li fighting back to take the second. But the supremely relaxed Thai looked physically and mentally stronger in the final game, holding on to a lead as li threw everything at her. At the end of the match Ratchanok dropped to her knees in tears on court before bowing to an applauding stadium.
A smiling Ratchanok, who still has braces on her teeth, said she would meet Thailand’s Queen Sirikit on Monday, which is a national holiday to mark the queen’s birthday and Mother’s Day. “I am going to bring my victory to the queen and to my mother and godmother as a gift,” Ratchanok said. “Before this match I didn’t have confidence when I was competing against the top players, but after today I will. li was not playing like herself. I felt really relaxed and I think she was nervous. I have played her five times and she has won four, so it was amazing that I beat her today.”
It was a fairytale moment in a career that started when she was five years old and her parents were working in a dessert factory, taking Ratchanok with them each day. Ratchanok and other children were sent to a badminton academy by the factory owner, who felt it was dangerous for them to be there. The teenager supports her family through her badminton career. “Being the champion has been my dream,” she said. “At the end of the match all the tough moments from all the years came into my mind and I thought, ‘Finally, I got it.’” Speaking after the match a deflated li said she had found it hard to concentrate. “It wasn’t being the top seed that affected my mindset —I think I was just too eager to win.
lee Chong Wei retires
Chinese superstar lin Dan took the badminton world title for a fifth time on Sunday after his arch rival lee Chong Wei was stretchered off the court in the third game. The current world number one from Malaysia dropped to his haunches at 19-16 down and then tried to recover. But he had to retire from the match at 20-17 — leaving lin, who is world and Olympic champion, to take the title 16-21, 21-13, 20-17.
“It would appear that he suffered some cramps and he has subsequently been taken to hospital,” said Gayle Alleyne, communications manager for badminton’s world body the BWF at a press conference after the match. lee had been hoping to end a run of high-profile defeats at the hands of lin — widely regarded as the game’s best-ever player — who beat him in the previous world title men’s singles final and in the two last Olympic finals.
lin, 29, known as “Super Dan”, was making his comeback at the tournament with a controversial wildcard place after a year on the sidelines to spend time with his family. The two badminton legends put on a brilliant display in the first set in front of a packed Tianhe gymnasium in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. “Both Chong Wei and I did a good job — it’s a pity he could not last until the end,” lin said after the match.