What?! Another Thailand Tournament?! Yes, that’s right! Luckily for us (and the players), Thailand hosts two Super 1000 tournament’s which are worth a whole lot of money and points to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals. The Toyota Thailand Open 2021 follows on from last weeks Yonex Thailand Open.
With last week’s Yonex Thailand Open Tournament signalling the rebirth of international badminton at the highest level, all eyes were on the previous winners. Could they reproduce the same results? And while some were clearly consistent, others exceeded even their own expectations, let alone the fans!
Unfortunately, along with the other noticeable absentees of Japan and China, Indian singles players Srikanth Kidambi and Sai Pranteeth had to withdraw after the latter tested positive for Covid.
Men’s Singles
All hail Vittinghus! I couldn’t start this segment without honouring one of my favourite Danish players! He’s had a tremendous run this tournament, reaching his first Super 1000 final since 2014. (When it was called the Super Series!). En route, he bested Lee Cheuk Yiu (last week’s quarter-finalist) in the quarters. In addition, he defeated Anders Antonsen – his compatriot and World No. 3. For perspective, at the time of writing, Vittinghus is ranked no. 42. This is an amazing achievement and really shows his fighting spirit.
Viktor Axelsen would stand in his way in the final, fresh off his victory from the Yonex Thailand open and in top form. Viktor’s path to the finals this time was pretty much business as usual. Not one of his opponents were able to take more than 16 points from him. That is until the semi-finals against Chou Tien-Chen. It looked to be an easy walk in the first game, with Viktor up 8-1 in the early stages. But Chou rallied to make it 12 all and from that point, it was pretty much neck and neck until Axelsen took it 21-19. The second game was a close affair. Axelsen seemed to find another gear in the last quarter of the game to win 21-15.
Vittinghus’s dream run came to an end in the finals. Viktor Axelsen just proving why he’s a contender for the Olympic gold medal. Making short work of Vittinghus 21-11, 21-7. However, fans all over the world are backing Vittinghus as the peoples champion – fighting until the end and showing why perseverance and hard work do pay off. He can feel nothing but pride after his performance this week.
Women’s Singles
Carolina Marin meant business, once again reaching the finals. And it would be a repeat of last weeks finals with Tai Tzu Ying. Carolina had a relative stress free route to the finals. She had not dropped a game throughout the whole tournament (the same as last week in fact!). She’s really in great form since coming back from injury back in January 2019.
For Tai Tzu Ying, she comes into the finals playing two additional games compared to Carolina Marin. And she certainly had a more difficult route considering the draw. There was a tough game in the quarter-finals against the feisty Canadian Michelle Li (no. 8 seed) which went to three games. Then Ratchanok, who was keen to win a title on home soil after her disappointment last week, was not able to overcome the racket skills of Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals.
However, it wasn’t one-way traffic, with Ratchanok taking the first game 21-12 and was 11-3 up at the interval. With Tai taking the second game, a third game was on the cards. And that did not disappoint, with some epic retrieving and clinical shot production from both players. But Tai was able to save 4 straight match points and come away with the victory 23-21.
Carolina Marin made it two wins out of two over Tai Tzu Ying in Thailand. Once again Marin’s style of play not allowing Tai Tzu Ying to wield her usual magic as often as she’d like. It’s an interesting clash of styles with Carolina playing straight forward attacking badminton. Tai likes to move her opponent around the court forcing opening through deception and well-placed shots. However, Carolina seems particularly adapted to this style allowing her to overcome Tai’s strength. She will perhaps have to develop her tactics repertoire to get the better of Marin.
Men’s Doubles
Wang and Yang of Chinese Taipei had a chance of making it a double in Thailand having reached a second final in as many weeks. In their semi-final’s game, they came up against the consistent Daddies Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Lee and Yang were given a view into why Ahsan and Setiawan are legends in the first game. But Yang and Wang soon adjusted their game and were playing faster and more aggressively. This allowed them to take a close second game. From there, they continued combining well in the third to seal their place in the final.
Their opponents would be the Malaysian duo Chia and Yik. Malaysia had a good tournament overall with six pairs across the women’s, mixed and men’s making at least the quarter-finals. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik made up for their first-round exit last week by taking on the very same pair who knocked them out previously – Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong. And this time they made pretty short work of their countrymen, beating them 21-16, 21-13.
In the semi’s they took on the world number tens – Indian pair Rankireddy and Shetty. While it was a close game, the Malaysian’s just seemed to have the edge. They were taking more chances to finish the rally and playing a fast flat game, keeping them on the attack.
Wang and Yang came out all guns blazing in the first game in the finals, really dominating the rallies and playing quite aggressively. In the second game, it was a much closer affair. The Malaysian’s picking up the pace and firing back just as hard as the Chinese Taipei players. But it would be Wang and Yang that would prove ultimately more clinical pair. The power from Wang and Speed at the front court of Yang showed why they are one of the best doubles partnerships in the world.
Women’s Doubles
As mentioned, the Malaysian’s had a particularly strong tournament in the doubles. Three of the quarter-finals places in the women’s doubles went to a Malaysian pair. However, with two of those pairs facing each other (Muralitharan/Koong Le vs Chow and Lee), only a max of two of semi-finals places were available for the Malaysians. It would be Chow and Lee who would claim that place, with Hoo and Yap knocked out by Koreans Lee and Shin.
Another Korean pair – Kim & Kong would ultimatly knock our Chow and Lee in a pretty straight forward semi final 21-17, 21-6.
An all Korean final was on the cards as Lee and Shin took down Yonex Thailand Open Gold medalists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, in a repeat match-up from last week’s semi-finals. But this time, the Koreans got their revenge in an explosive game filled with quality rallies and impressive retrieving from both pairs. But it was the Koreans who were just too strong on the day.
In the finals, the two Korean pairs, who obviously know each other very well, battled it out for first place. The first game looked all but over it looked all but over with Kim/Kong leading 19-14. However, Lee/Shin fought back to make reduce the deficit to 20-18 but had just left themselves too much to do and conceded 21-18. In the second game, Kong/Kim showed a little more skill in their shot choice and like the first game had a fairly commanding lead – being 18-13 up with one game under their belt. But again their opponents came crawling back, but couldn’t do enough to level the match and Kim/Kong came away victorious.
Mixed Doubles
Once again it was home favourites Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai spearheading Thailands representation in the mixed doubles. And once again, they didn’t disappoint. In the second round, they took down world number 12 pair Goh/Lai from Malaysia.
The quarter-finals brought a challenge in the form of the powerhouse from Korea Ko Sung-Hyun and partner Eom Hye-won. In a first game that went to the Koreans 29-27(!), both pairs were pushed to their limits. However is was the younger Thai pair who were able to bounce back quicker, capitalising on the fatigue of the Koreans to win the next two games 21-15, 21-9.
It would be in the finals that they would meet another Korean pair, Seo/Chae. The Koreans had a more straight forward route to the finals, not dropping a game to any of their opponents in the previous round. Whereas the Thai pair were pushed both in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to three games.
But in the finals, those two extra games didn’t seem to have any toll on their them. Perhaps it was the thrill of playing on home soil yet again or the confidence of the win from last week, but they came out all guns blazing. Taerattanachai is not afraid to take the back court and partner Puavaranukrohto is not afraid to threaten the net, unlike a lot of “traditional” mixed doubles pairs. It’s this element in their partnership that gives them an extra dynamic.
The second game was a much tighter affair, with the two left-handed Koreans coming back strongly. Their attacking play became more direct and Seo was able to find weaknesses in the Thai pair through the great placement of his smash. Towards the end of the second game, with the Koreans up 20-19, an unforced error saw the Thai pair draw level. From there a short lift was all that was needed for Taerattanachai to put the shuttle away and claim their second home tournament victory in 2021.
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[…] the Chinese. I must confess that although I thought the Taiwanese were playing extremely well in Thailand, they weren’t playing the likes of China or Japan. However, they certainly proved me wrong in […]