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[BADMINTON] The best hopes of the host nation in the mixed doubles were subdued, but Boonsak Ponsana enhanced another dream of the Kingdom as he stunned top-seeded Chen Jin to storm into the final of the Thailand Open Gold Grand Prix at the Nimibutr Gymnasium.

Widely known as Super "Man" in Thailand, Boonsak moved a step closer to winning his second crown in the Thailand Open and also his second major title of the year following a scintillating come-from-behind 19-21 21-18 21-13 victory over world No 4 Chen Jin from China yesterday.

Boonsak, the 2004 Thailand Open champion who was in superb form early this year to win the Singapore Open Super Series, started aggressively and hardly allowed Chen to settle down and used his terrific cross-court smashes to devastating effect. However, Chen's wide repertoire of strokes and precision just worked out pretty well and saw off the Thai challenge in the opener 21-19.

Despite dropping the first game, the setback hardly bothered Boonsak as he came back much stronger in the second game to take the hard-fought battle 21-18. The Thai sensation continued his remarkable run in the third game, overcoming the 2007 Swiss Open Super Series champion with an excellent performance of accuracy and court craft to win the decider 21-13, the tough match and a final berth. The Saturday's win improved his win/loss record to 3-3 against the Chinese.

"Today, I maintain more concentration to avoid making any unforced errors. With the large crowd cheering on me, I admit that I was playing without much confidence and that's why I lost the first game," Boonsak said.

"Against Chen Hong in the final, I will try to give all what I have. Chen is very good in attacking, but his defence is something else. I will play an attack game against him. It will be the last hurdle I have to clear and I think I have a chance to beat him. We have played for several times and took turns winning. In the last 16 round at the last year's Malaysian Open, I also beat him in straight games. I'm convinced that I will repeat the similar feat in the final," he added.

In today's final clash, Boonsak takes on world No 2 Chen Hong, who tamed Hong Kong'sNg Wei 21-18 21-9 in the other semi-finals yesterday.

Meanwhile, Thai mixed duo of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam, though backed by the vociferous crowd shouting "Come on, Thailand", seemed to be weighed down by all the expectations to surrender the exhausting semi-final match to He Hanbin and Yu Yang from China in dramatic three games, going down 18-21 21-18 21-23.

"It's a pity we made too many unforced mistakes. The luck just was not with us today. I think we had a chance, but we just slipped it away," a disappointed Sudket said.

"I think I'm satisfied with our form despite the fact that we lost the match. Compared with ours, the Chinese have the lower rankings in the world, but they were just an impossible nut to crack today," Saralee added.

In the men's doubles, defending and consecutive two-time champions Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae from South Korea came close of making it three times in a row after beating Thai pairing Sudket Prapakamol and Tesana Panvisvas 21-18  21-15.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation