Ratchanok Intanon outlasts Li Xuerui to win Badminton Asia Championships

Ratchanok Intanon celebrates her win over Li Xuerui in the final

Ratchanok Intanon ovecame top seed Li Xuerui 20-22, 23-21, 21-12 in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan.

The first game saw a see-saw battle with both players sticking to their game plan and trying to outsmart the other. It was the Olympic champion who edged past Intanon 22-20 on her second game point. The Thai played aggressively to win five points on the trot from 3-2 in the second game. Xuerui did not let Intanon to run away with the game as she won four consecutive points to level scores at 10-10. Xuerui had a match point at 21-20, but Intanon won three points in a row to win the game and send the match to a decider.

The momentum was clearly with the 20-year-old and she never let the Chinese into the third game. This is Intanon’s first win over Xuerui since last year. Her career record against Xuerui improved to 3-7 after this win.