Thai mixed doubles duo Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai pulled off a massive upset yesterday when they beat top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong 24-22, 21-19 in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open badminton tournament.
The victory halted the Chinese duo's unbeaten streak this year at 18 matches.
In today's final, third seeds Dechapol and Sapsiree will meet unseeded Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia who beat seventh-seeded Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emamuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 21-16, 20-22, 22-20 in the other semi-final of the US$355,000 event.
Zhang and Huang had swept everything before them in the run-up to this tournament, winning 15 matches in a row and picking up three titles.
Dechapol and Sapsiree had lost all six previous encounters against the world champions, but the underdogs stepped it up yesterday with brilliant play under pressure.
The Chinese recovered well to take a 14-9 lead in the second, but couldn't raise their level as their opponents clawed their way back.
Dechapol and Sapsiree, who are in their third final this season, will be eyeing their first title in over a year.
"Today we were able to control it well. We kept the shuttle down and that enabled us to attack. In the first game, we were too serious, but after the break we changed our approach and tried to have fun," Sapsiree told www.bwfbadminton.com.
"We are of course happy to be the first pair to beat them this year."
