Khosit on a mission in US Open semis
Thai No 1 Khosit Phetpradab will be seeking revenge over Lee Dong Keun of South Korea when they meet this morning in the semi-final of the US Open badminton tournament at California State University in Long Beach.
The world No 26 Khosit took three minutes over an hour to eliminate China’s Lu Guangzu 21-16 12-21 21-16 in the quarter-finals yesterday (Thailand time), while the 38th-ranked Lee dashed the hopes of Thailand’s young gun Kantapphon Wangcharoen 21-18 21-18.
For Khosit, 23, from Chiang Mai, it’s a first semi-final since he triumphed at the Vietnam Open last September.
“I really pushed myself to dictate play as Lu was fast and loved to come to the net. I had to keep him at the baseline and took the initiative. I was a better player today,” said the fourthseeded Khosit.
He is looking to settle a score with four-time BWF Tour champion Lee, who beat him 21-15 21-9 in the Hong Kong Open second round last year.
“Lee is a very strong and solid player. I lost to him the last time we met. I hope I can return him the favour this time,” he said.
Khosit is the only Thai left in competition.
Elsewhere in the women’s singles quarter-finals, 2017 Princess Cup champion Busanan Ongbamrungphan lost to Japanese arch-rival Aya Ohori 21-7 21-10, while Uber Cup teammate Pornpawee Chochuwong succumbed to top seed Beiwen Zhang of Malayisa 18-21 24-22 1-21.
In the women’s doubles quarter-finals, Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul were sent packing by Tang Jinhua and Yu Xiaohan of China 6-21 14-21.
