South Korea sank the hosts dreams of a first doubles title as they dominated the SCG World Grand Prix Thailand Open at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium yesterday.

The Thai pairings had to settle for runners-up spots yet again as the South Koreans took the mixed, women's and men's doubles titles in front of a capacity crowd.

China's world No 25 Chen Yu and world No 8 Zhu Lin claimed the men's and women's singles titles, respectively.

South Korean dominance began with a thrilling win in the mixed event, followed by a comfortable victory in the women's doubles.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung hardly broke a sweat in winning the men's doubles trophy after compatriot Lee Jae-jin, who was paired with Hwang Ji-man, withdrew because of appendix problem.

Sudket Prapakamol, the world No 10, and Saralee Thoungthongkham lost a thrilling mixed doubles final to the brilliant pair of Lee and Hwang Yu-mi 21-11 18-21 22-20.

The Thai pair, however, left the stadium heartbroken after falling for the second time in two years to win the title.

But Saralee had to bear more heartache as she and Satinee Jankrajangwong lost in the women's doubles final to Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung 21-18 21-9.

"I reached two finals in the same tournament for the first time but I couldn't win either of them," said a dispirited Saralee.

"I was disappointed to miss the chance, especially in the mixed doubles where we came so close," she said, adding that tiredness was a major problem during the finals.

"I played a lot of matches this week and it took its toll. But I have to move on, take some rest and go back to the practice courts again for my next tournament," she said.

Sudket, whose trademark acrobatic smashes failed to live up to expectations yesterday, was stunned by the improvement of his young South Korean rivals who he beat easily in the Indonesian Open last month.

"I was quite surprised because I never thought they would play this good," said Sudket, who admitted that he was less aggressive in the final.

"I was so tired physically but I gave everything I had in the match. We were slow and made a lot of mistakes and played so slow," said Sudket, who will have a three-week break before the next tournament in South Korea.

Chen proved that his stunning win over world No 1 Lee Chong-wei of Malaysia was no fluke as he took the men's singles trophy after edging out compatriot and world No 6 Chen Jin 21-17 21-23 22-20 after an hour and five minutes.

The Thailand Open was Chen's first career title. His best run in a World Grand Prix event saw him finish runner-up in the Singapore Open in 2003.

Zhu emulated compatriot Chen, recovering from a mid-match deficit to claim the women's singles crown by beating South Korean world No 34 Hwang Hye-youn 21-13 18-21 21-15 in a marathon one-hour and 14 minute contest.

Sudket and Saralee struggled in their opening game, finding it hard to compete with the flawless play of Lee and Hwang.

The South Koreans rocketed to an 11-3 lead and landed the opening game 21-11 after Sudket netted his smash.

The second game was neck-and-neck for most of the way with the Thai pair tightening their defence and applying more cross-court shots to level the match.

The lead changed hands several times in the decider as both teams became tense. Each point featured long, exciting rallies, but the South Koreans had a solid defence to compliment the powerful smashes by Lee.

Sudket saved a match point at 19-20 but a net-cord gave the South Koreans a golden opportunity to finish off the match at 21-20, which came when Saralee hit her shot into the net.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam,

Somporn Suphop

The Nation