Crowd favourite Boonsak Ponsana thrilled the spectators at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium with his spectacular performance that propelled him to a stunning win over world No 6 Lee Hyun-il of South Korea in the SCG World Grand Prix Thailand Open yesterday.

After an erratic first game, the ninth-ranked Boonsak came back to life in the next two games where he combined tricky shots and heavy down the line smashes to beat Lee 17-21 21-7 21-13 in the third round clash that lasted 55 minutes.

"I started a bit slow and was too afraid to go for my shots. My coach suggested to change the tactics by playing more at the net to keep him out of the comfort zone,'' said Boonsak, who got even with Lee after losing to his rival twice this season.

Boonsak's part of the draw is now wide open without the presence of world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia who was knocked out of the second round by the 27th-ranked Chen Yu of China in a seesaw battle that ended in favour of the Chinese 21-19 14-21 21-19 on Wednesday night.

"My chances are good but all the remaining players are still tough. But I'm more motivated than usual because it's a home tournament,'' added the 2004 winner.

In today's quarter final the Thai plays Chen, a 16-21 21-12 21-6 winner over Malaysian Chun Seang Tan. Boonsak and the Chinese are 1-1 in their head-to-head meetings with the Thai winning the latest in Malaysia's Asian Championships semi-finals.

"Like other Chinese players, Chen plays fast and aggressive. I just have to work hard on my defence and keep changing the pace of the game,'' he added.

The tournament, without its top seed, suffered a further blow when third-seeded Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark withdrew from his third round match against South Korean Sung Hwan-park due to a leg injury.

Earlier, in a nerve-wrecking mixed doubles second round match which kept fans glued to their seats, third-seeded Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkham shrugged off a rusty first game to narrowly beat Indonesia's Devin Lahardi Fitriwan and Yunita Tetty 18-21 21-5 21-18 in 50 minutes.

"I thought we wouldn't be able to make it today. We hurried too much and played sluggishly,'' said Saralee, who committed several service errors. She and Sudket will play South Korea's Kim Min-jung and Joen Jun-bim who upended seventh-seeded Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion of the Philippines 21-15 18-11 21-16.

"The South Korean team is tough. I expect to win the match but it won't be easy,'' said Sudket, who unleashed a series of fierce smashes to end the match.

The last Thai hope in the women's singles, Soratja Chansrisukot, saw her journey come to an end in the second round yesterday. She squandered a big 18-11 lead in the second set to hand victory on a platter to Japan's Ai Koto 21-18 21-18.

In other women's second round action, Japan's Yoshimi Hataya upset sixth-seeded Lu Lan of China 21-16 23-21. Defending champion fourth-seeded Kaori Mori of Japan was stunned by Indonesian Andriyanti Firdasari 21-18 21-19 and Yao Jie of the Netherlands fought back from a game down to beat Nanna Rice of Canada 19-21 21-12 21-9. Second-seeded Xie Xingfang was through to the next round following her 21-13 21-15 win over Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo.

In the men's doubles first round, only fourth-seeded Sudket and Patapol Ngernsrisuk managed to advance to the second round following a straight game win over Japan's Tadashi Ohtsuka and Keita Masuda 21-15 21-12.

Sixth-seeded Saralee and Satinee Jankrajangwong, went past Vacharaporn Mankit and Suttapa Eakvoratian 21-11 21-14 in the women's doubles. The other winning Thai team Duang-Anong Aroonkesorn and Kulchala Worawichitchaikul beat Malaysia's Julia Pei Xian Wong and Chiou Hwee Haw 21-17 21-14. 

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam,

Somporn Suphop

The Nation