Ratchanok
A tremendous show of fighting spirit earned Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean a place in the final in the USD350,000 Yonex Sunrise India Open in New Delhi on Saturday.
The third-seeded Malaysians were on the brink of exit after losing the first game 18-21 and were 14-19 down in the second. However, the Malaysians came out with their guns blazing to force a decider with a 21-19 win.
It was another touch and go affair against Thailand’s second seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai but the Malaysians kept their cool to snatch the match at 21-19 after a titanic 73-minute battle.
The win against the Thais tied the head to head score to 2-2. The Thais beat the Malaysians at the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters in Jakarta in January this year and last year’s Thailand Masters.
Mei Kuan-Meng Yean beat their Thai opponents at the 2017 Gwangju Victor Korea Masters.
In Sunday’s final Mei Kuan-Meng Yean will face top seeds and world No 5 Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu. The top Indonesian pair beat compatriots Della Dastiara Haris-Tania Oktavianti Kusumah 21-9, 19-21, 21-5 in their semi-final match.
Polii-Apriyani lead Mei Kuan-Meng Yean in the head to head count, having beaten the Malaysians in last year’s World Championships in Nanjing.
Meanwhile, two-time India Open champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand will face China’s He Bingjiao in the women’s singles final.
Intanon defeated China’s Han Yue while Bingjiao broke the hearts of the Indians by knocking out second seed P.V. Sindhu in their respective semi-final matches.
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