PARIS: Ratchanok Intanon's recent impressive run has come to an end with a quarter-final defeat by Taiwanese rival Tai Tzu Ying at the Yonex French Open badminton tournament.
The 22-year-old Thai star and former world champion was coming off a victory the previous weekend at the Denmark Open, which included an upset of Tai in the semi-final.
However, the Taiwanese world No.1 required just 32 minutes to dispatch her opponent 21-17, 21-12 on Friday night in Paris.
Ratchanok, the 2013 world champion, has been making an impressive return to form this year, with victories in three Grand Prix Gold tournaments in Thailand, New Zealand and Denmark. Her win in Odense, Denmark over defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan was her best performance of the year so far.
As a result, she has jumped three spots to No.6 in the latest women’s singles world rankings released this week. The victory also helped her move up to fourth place from seventh in the Destination Dubai rankings with the top eight players qualifying for the season-ending tournament in December.
The mixed doubles pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Puttita Supajirakul, the only other Thais left in the Paris tournament, bowed out in three sets to Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark late Friday.
