Thai trio Sudket Prapakamol, Saralee Thoungthongkham and Satinee Jankrajangwong delighted local fans as they booked their places in the mixed and women's doubles finals of the SCG World Grand Prix Thailand Open yesterday.

Sudket and Saralee, world-ranked nine and seeded three for the tournament, put on their best performance of the week to upset world No-4 and top seeds Lee Jae-jin and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea 21-13 21-11 in the mixed event at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.

Saralee later enhanced her portfolio by also reaching the final of the women's doubles after pairing with Satinee Jankrajangwong to beat Danes Lena Frier Kristiansen and Camilla Rytter Juhl 21-13 16-21 21-7.

It is the first time Thai players have reserved two final spots in the tournament since 2004, when Boonsak Ponsana made the men's singles finals and the Sudket-Saralee pairing went on to lose in the  mixed doubles finals.

So, Saralee and Satinee will be looking to become the first Thai pair to claim a doubles trophy in the country's biggest badminton event.

"Physically I'm tired but it's worth it because I have reached two finals in a tournament for the first time in my career.

"I rate my chances in the mixed event at 60-40 and in the women's doubles 40-60," said Saralee, who was mobbed by fans asking for photos and autographs.

The Saralee-Satinee pairing will play in the women's final against South Korea's Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung, who took a  21-19 21-11 victory over Wong Pei-tty and Chin Eei-hui of Malaysia in the other semi-final.

"I have to give credit to Saralee as she played so well while I was so exhausted. Luckily we led by a big margin in the third game which helped us to pull off the win," said Satinee.

Sudket was the real entertainer of the day, however, wowing the crowd of 2,500 with his extraordinarily acrobatic smashes.

"I jump and smash because it provides good shot direction. I'm glad the crowd loved it and I'm even more motivated if we get points," said the doubles specialist.

Awaiting the Sudket-Saralee pair in the final are Lee Yong-dae and Hwang Yu-mi from South Korea, who shocked defending champions Thomas Laybourn and Camilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark 21-17 21-13.

The Thai players will enter the final with an edge over their opponents, who they beat 21-17 21-9 in the second round of last month's Indonesian Open.

"We have to take charge at the net and return fast. South Korean players like to counter punch. We have to play short shots at the net which is something they are not comfortable with," said Sudket.

Sudket and Saralee started poorly in their semi-final as they fell  behind 1-4 and then 2-5.

But once they gained some momentum they held on tightly to reel off seven consecutive points en route to a 10-6 lead in the first game.

They then raced to a huge 20-13 lead before converting on their first game point with a smash from Saralee.

After wasting three match points at 20-8, they regrouped to seal victory with a rocket smash from Sudket.

In the men's singles semi-finals, China's world No-27 Chen Yu extended his surprise run by staging another upset victory over compatriot and world No-5 Chen Hong 24-22 21-13.

He will play for the title against fellow countryman Chen Jin, who outclassed defending champion Muhd Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia 21-13 21-10.

On the women's side, the tournament also lost title-holder Yao Jie from the Netherlands who was forced to retire with injury when she was trailing Hwang Hye-youn of South Korea 21-15 20-12.

The other final spot was booked by China's world No-12 Zhu Lin who beat Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-18 21-14.

In the men's doubles No-8 seeds Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of South Korea beat Choong Tan-fook and Lee Wan-wah from Malaysia 21-16 21-19.

They will set up the all South Korean final with Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man , the 21-12 23-21 winners over Taiwanese Fang Chieh-min and Lee Sheng-mu.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam,

Somporn Suphop

The Nation