Ratchanok Intanon missed out on a chance to win her second title of the year, losing a nail-biting final against old nemesis Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles decider at the US$150,000 (approximately 4.8 million baht) German Open on Sunday.
Two-time defending champion Yamaguchi of Japan completed her hat-trick of wins at the BWF World Tour Super 300 event in Mulheim an de Ruhr.
The Japanese second seed converted her fifth match point to win the 70-minute encounter 16-21, 21-14, 25-23 and improve her head-to-head record against Ratchanok to 12-9.
Ratchanok beat reigning Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin of Spain to win the Malaysia Masters for her first title of 2019 in January.
Despite the defeat, world No.8 Ratchanok will head to the All England Open Championships in Birmingham this week with confidence.
The Thai star did not drop a game all week heading into Sunday's title match against Yamaguchi and there was little to separate the two in yesterday's clash in front of a full house crowd at at Innogy Sporthalle.
Ratchanok, who will play China's Chen Xiaoxin in the first round in Birmingham, will also be very determined to make up for her shock first round exit at the hands of Canada's Michelle Li last year.
In the men's doubles final earlier, second seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe rallied to upset top seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda 15-21, 21-11, 21-12 in a thrilling all-Japanese decider.
World No.5 pair Endo and Watanabe did not drop a game on their way to the final and they kept their concentration well to fight back after losing their first game of the week against their third-ranked opponents.
Men's top seed and world No.1 Kento Momota was due to meet third-seeded compatriot Kenta Nishimota in the men's singles final late last night.
