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Published on August 15, 2007

Boonsak upset the Chinese No 2 to hand the country a gold on Saturday, avenging his loss in the recent Thailand Open final.

"If I can stop him from playing his drop and smash shots, I think I can beat Chen Hong. I will not give too much attention to the score. I will try my best," said the 25-year-old law student.

The Thai, ranked 9th in the world, blew Taiwan's Liao Sheng-shiun away 21-9 21-14 in the semi-finals, preventing Taiwan from having a player in all four of the finals.

Sudket Prapakamol and Phattapol Ngernsrisuk also made it a glorious day for Thai badminton yesterday, stunning China's Chen Ye and Zhang Wei 21-13 23-21 in the men's doubles semi-finals.

The duo take on Tsai Chia-hsin and Hsieh Yu-hsing of Taiwan, who denied Songpon Anukrittayawan and Nattapon Narkthong the chance to make it an all-Thai affair in a gruelling three-game battle.

"The pairing of Tsai and Hsieh is the best duo amongst all semi-finalists. Their attacking is very good, so we have to stop them. We think we can get the gold," said Sudket, whose regular partner is Saralee Thungthongkam.

Thailand had to be content with three bronze medals in other events yesterday, as their players were eliminated in the semis.

Sudket could not get going with his new partner Salakjit Ponsana, falling to Taiwan's Cheng Wen-hsing and Fang Chieh-min 21-16 21-18 in the mixed doubles.

The Taiwanese play South Korea's Yoo Yeon-seong and Kim Min-jung in the final.

Fellow Thai Monthila Meemek went down 21-17 21-19 to China's Wang Yi-han, who next faces Taiwan's Cheng Shao-chieh in the women's singles final.

In the women's doubles, countrywomen Duang-anong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul suffered a second 21-12 21-18 defeat to China's Pan Pan and Ting Qing. The Thai women previously lost to the Chinese in the team event.

Pan and Ting take on Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin of Taiwan in the final.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation