Thai mixed doubles pair out to steal the show
[BADMINTON] While all eyes will be on local celebrity Boonsak Ponsana, mixed doubles pair Sudket Praphakamol and Saralee Thung-thongkham may steal the limelight when the US$80,000 (Bt3.2 million) SCG World Grand Prix Thailand Open Badminton Championships starts today.
Judging from their fine performances since the start of the season, the two have a better chance than any of the other Thais of making it into the final rounds of the tournament, which is being held at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium. Local favourite Boonsak is still far from possessing the weapons he needs to threaten three of the world's top five players - Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei (No 1), Peter Gade of Denmark (No 3) and Chen Hong of China (No 5), who are contesting the men' singles. Now ranked ninth in the mixed doubles, Sudket and Saralee made a good start at the beginning of the year by reaching the quarter-finals in the All England Open. They followed that by finishing second in the Asian Championships and then won the four-star Philippines Open. The pair also made it to the semi-finals in both the six-star Indonesia Open and the Chinese Taipei Open last month. But the pair say they are under no pressure. "We have learned how to cope with the pressure by competing continuously and our target of reaching the semi-finals is not too high," said the 26-year-old Sudket.
Somporn Suphop The Nation
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