Sudket, Saralee clinch semi-final spot in style

Sudket, Saralee clinch semi-final spot in style
Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thung-thongkam stormed into the semi-finals of the mixed-doubles event after beating the Malaysian pair of Abdul Latif Mohd Ratif and Ng Hui Lin 21-11 21-18.Published on December 13, 2007


Nakhon Ratchasima

The winners will clash with Widianto Nova and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia for a place in the final.

The Thais have managed only one victory in nine meetings against the world No 2 pair and will be praying for all the support they can get from the home crowd.

In the men's singles section, Thai No 1 Boonsak Ponsana routed Sathien Mouanevongsa of Laos 21-13 21-9 in the quarter-finals to set up a clash with Lee Yen Hui Kendrick of Singapore.

However, Poompat Sapkulcha-nanart had no such luck and went down fighting to Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh 18-21 21-13 21-18. There was more bad news in the men's doubles section as two Thai pairs bowed out in the quarters.

Sudket and Phattapol Ngernsrisuk lost to world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, while Songphon Anukrittayawan, and Tesana Panvisavas fell to Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Joko Riyadi of Indonesia.

It was a mixed bag in the women's section as Soratja Chansrisukot survived a tough game against Cheah Li Ya Lydia of Malaysia 21-23 26-24 21-18 in the quarters, while Salakjit Ponsana crashed out after losing to Wong Pei Xian Julia of Malaysia 21-16 21-12.

Indonesia's Firdasari Adriyanti awaits Soratja in the next round.

In the doubles, Duang-anong Aroonkesorn and Kulchala Voravichitchaikul, who outclassed Vietnam's Phi Thi Quynh Mai and Nguyen Phung Phoung Nhi 21-9 21-11, will meet Jo Novita and Greysia Polii of Indonesia in the semi-finals.

The Nation