Intanon Ratchanok casts out Tine Baun in quarter-final round of 2012 Li Ning China Open
Thailand’s Intanon Ratchanok continued playing impeccable badminton in Li Ning China Open and earned the right to be in the semi-final round on Friday, November 16, 2012.
This quarter-final encounter put her against World Number seven Tine Baun and both contenders remained head-to-head for 35 minutes.
However, this tussle ended in just two games as Intanon Ratchanok displayed unbeatable craft and placed a favourable result of 21-13 and 21-19.
The Thai player, who was underrated earlier in this Super Series, performed beyond expectations in both games and registered her presence in this tournament.
She laid the foundation of her dominance immediately in the beginning of first set and ruled the court throughout this crucial game.
Meanwhile, the Danish campaigner put a below par performance which ultimately cost her a valuable match point.
Tine Baun took off in perfect manner and maintained an upper hand in the establishing rallies but Intanon Ratchanok bounced back with a strong reply.
She pocketed a couple of consecutive points and established an unassailable lead with 11-8 margin.
After the one-minute interval, Intanon did not give her rival even a single counter-attack opportunity and swept the table with a significant difference.
She mounted pressure with 15-8 total and then capitalised this psychological edge in the final moments.
The Thai shuttler strengthened her grip by putting an indomitable figure of 19-11 and then served notice of her supremacy with 21-13 score on the board.
However, it was not an easy win in the following game as the opposing shuttler showed strong character even after the first set loss.
This time Tine Baun gained an early advantage and dominated overall pace of the rallies in most part of the game but then few back-to-back mistakes triggered the collapse.
Initially, she prevailed in five uninterrupted rallies and relished full benefits of this lead to pile up a decent margin of 11 before the break.
Later part of the game was full of drama as Intanon made amends with a staggering knock and saved the honour with 21-19 score.
This timely win took her into the semi-final round where she will be up against Juliane Schenk of Germany.
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