Dubai: The women’s singles World No. 6 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand handed Taiwanese World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying her first defeat at this year’s BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai, winning 21-18, 21-17 in 45 minutes to become the Group B champion in the women’s singles event.
Intanon dominated Tai with her exceptional court coverage and precision of her shots. Although Tai was able to close the gap to 17-18 in the first set, Intanon eventually prevailed in the hard-fought first set encounter.
With the win, Intanon already secured a semi-final spot although she still needs to take on Chen Yufei of China on Friday.
In order for Tai to make it to the last four, the Taiwanese player will need to defeat Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun on Friday, with Intanon having to defeat Chen.
In women’s singles Group A matches, India’s PV Sindhu booked a semi-final berth by outlasting Sayaka Sato 21-13, 21-12 in 36 minutes. Meanwhile, Akane Yamaguchi from Group A also breezed into the semi-finals by beating He Bingjiao of China 21-14, 13-21, 21-8.
