Promising young badminton player K. Srikanth of India, won his first ever major international title today, winning the gold medal in the men's singles event at the SCG Thailand Open-2013 Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, held at the Nimibutr stadium at Bangkok in Thailand from 04-June-2013 to 09-June-2013.
Before the start of the men's singles final, not many would have expected such a surprising outcome. After all, the experienced Boonsak Ponsana is ranked no.7 in the world and was the top seed at this tournament. On top of that, playing at the Thai Open final, meant that he would get plenty of support from the home crowd.
On the other hand, Srikanth's world ranking was no.45 at the start of the tournament (and current ranking is no.61) and he was seeded 13th here at this tournament. A big difference, so to speak.
However as it eventually turned out, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Boonsak Ponsana in the finals in just 33 minutes and two straight games by a score of 21-16, 21-12 to clinch his first ever GP Gold title, and a well-deserved prize cheque worth 9000 US dollars, to go along with it.
20-year old Srikanth is from Hyderabad, represents Andhra Pradesh state at the domestic tournaments in India, and is currently ranked no.3 within India as per the rankings published by BAI (Badminton Association of India). On the international level, he has made rapid progress in the last 6 months, first breaking into the top 100 and then into the list of top 50 players in the world.
Women's Singles results:
Saina disappoints this time
Top seeded Saina Nehwal could not repeat her last year's performance this time around at the Thailand Open-2013. She was defeated in the quarter-finals by 8th seed Juan Gu of Singapore.
Last year Saina had done better at this tournament when she had went on to win the title defeating Ratchanok Inthanon in the finals. Here's the link to her previous year's performance at this tournament.
Saina wins Thailand Open 2012 badminton tournament.
Inthanon grabs the title at Thailand Open badminton 2013
The women's singles title at the Thailand Open 2013 was won by Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand who defeated her own country-mate Busanan Ongbumrungpan in the tough final match that lasted for 3 games. Inthanon finally won by a score of 20-22, 21-19, 21-13.
So, she has done one step better this time. Last year it was Silver for her, and this time it's a Gold medal.
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