Nichaon wins decisive rubber for Thailand

Thailand's women's team edged past Taiwan 3-2 to finish third in the Uber Cup Preliminary Asian Zone Championship at Macau Forum.

The victory enabled the team to secure a berth in the finals, where 12 teams will compete in Wuhan, China, from May 20 to 27.

Thailand lost to former five-time champions Japan 3-2 in the semi-finals on Friday, while Taiwan suffered a disappointing 3-0 loss to 11-time winners China in the same round.

Against Taiwan, in the third-place play-off, promising teenager and world No 13 Ratchanok Inthanon got Thailand off to a flying start with a stunning 21-19 21-13 win over Cheng Shao Chieh, the current world No 9 and silver medallist at the last year's BWF World Championships.

The world No 8 duo of Cheng Wen Hsing and Chien Yu Chin made amends for Taiwan by outclassing Thais Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul, ranked 21st in the world, 21-15 21-11.

World No 14 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk brought the Kingdom back on track when she fought bravely against world No 16 Tai Tzu Yina and won 21-18 26-28 21-19.

The never-say die Taiwanese fought their way back into the rubber when the duo of Wang Pei Rong and Hsieh Pei Chen thrashed Thais Savitree Amitrapai and Somsri Nessara 21-17 21-13 to tie the rubber.

Nichaon Jindapon was Thailand's last hope and she did not let her supporters down. After narrowly going down 19-21 in the first game against Taiwanese Ma Hsiao Pai, Nichaon stormed back with a dazzling array of shots to beat her strong rival 21-17 in the second game.

The Thai went on to take a commanding 17-12 lead in the decider before Ma found her rhythm to hit back aggressively and match the Thai at 17-17. From then on, both sides took turns hitting aggressive shots, but Nichaon was in better form to win the heart-pounding game 21-19 and the third place for Thailand.

Meanwhile, in the round-robin 5th-8th position play-offs in the Thomas Cup Preliminary Asian Zone Championships yesterday, South Korea trounced Thailand 4-1 win and India edged Taiwan 3-2 in another close encounter.

Against the Koreans yesterday, Thailand were playing without their best player and world No 20 Boonsak Ponsana, who has suffered an injury.

South Korea played exceptionally well to capture the first three matches, with Lee Hyun-il, winner at the Korea Grand Prix Gold and Macau Open last year, thrashing Thai rising star Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-16 21-12.

Koreans Shon Wan-ho and Hong Ji-hoon brushed off their Thai counterparts Suppanyu Avihingsanon and Pakkawat Vilailak in the other two singles encounters 21-18 21-8 and 21-19 22-20 respectively.

In the fourth rubber, Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit handed Thailand the lone win when they overcame You Yeon-seong and Ko Sung-hyun 21-14 10-21 21-16.

In the final, Koreans Lee Yong-dae and Hong Ji-hoon produced a magnificent come-from-behind 2-1 (15-21 21-16 21-17) victory to snuff out the Thai challenge.

South Korea are leading the charge with a 2-0 record in the play-offs, while Thailand dropped to second place with a 1-1 record. India are in third position with a 1-1 record. Winless Taiwan are in fourth place.

Today, Thailand play their last match against Taiwan in the play-offs, while South Korea contest a must-win encounter against India to ensure fifth place, the top spot in the play-offs, which will earn them a place in the 12-team finals in China in May. The top four teams in the Macau meet plus title-holders China will be eligible to play the finals.