BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024: Ratchanok Intanon pays tribute to late mother after triumph in quarterfinals; PV Sindhu eliminated
Intanon and Katethong led Thailand into the women's singles semifinals, while PV Sindhu fell in a blistering 77-minute duel. Loh showed top form and conserved his strength as he booked a semifinals spot in the men's tournament.
Badminton
It was as close at it could get in the women’s singles quarterfinal at the BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024 where the tournament's fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon faced off against the fifth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong.
Both from Thailand, the badminton players did not need any special introduction ahead of their match on Friday (29 March), which went into a gruelling three sets with plenty of smashes and dramatic saves to entertain the crowd.
Chochuwong took the first game by a narrow margin of 21-19. Angered with how she responded to her teammate's challenges, Intanon re-gained her confidence with a dazzling 21-9, smash-filled second game to set up the deciding third.
“I tried to face myself first because when I lost, I lost to myself,” Intanon told Olympics.com. “I did not lose to my opponent. I could not play like what I want.
“I learned from that because I knew that she wanted to play it like this, but OK, then I have to play this way too," the three-time Olympian continued. “It’s only two points, so it’s OK. I learned more on the second. She want to play like this, I have to play like this too because I cannot go away.”
Playing as she wanted, Intanon forced a tight duel to the finish with the two players exchanging the lead through the third game. Catching up at the sixteenth point, Intanon led the match to a close with another 21-19 score, this time in her favour.
The win meant even more to Intanon given the special company she had with her during the match.
“This one is from my mother because I lost her three ago,” the badminton player said, clutching a glittering silver necklace with a prominent white stone at its centre. “I choose one [stone] from her life, from her home, to take with me because she also never went overseas so now I take her everywhere.”
PV Sindhu falls short of fourth semifinals spot despite game-saving heroics
Intanon will be one of two Thai representatives in the women’s singles semifinal, together with fellow Thai player Supanida Katethong, who defeated India’s PV Sindhu in a later match.
Katethong and Sindhu fought an epic 77-minute battle with the Indian star saving six game points in the final set.
The even-matched first game required Sindhu to reach 26 points before she could claim the victory. She lost the second, 21-17, and was on the brink of elimination in the third as Katethong put the score at 20-15.
With one point deciding her fate in the tournament where she was runner-up last year, Sindhu showed character as she battled back, point-by-point, until evening the score. In the end, however, it was not enough as Katethong rallied to get two points ahead.
Loh eases into men's singles semifinal
While the women forced their games into dramatic point-breakers, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew opted to save his strength as he secured his semifinal spot in just 24 minutes.
The tournament’s second seed took a straight-sets victory over Denmark’s Mads Christophersen, but still had to catch his breath after.
“Just now was quite a quick match," Loh told Olympics.com. "It wasn’t easy, but it was quick because of both of us playing fast paced."
The Madrid Spain Masters is Loh's fourth tournament on the European tour and one of his goals heading into the next stages is to keep fatigue at bay.
“It’s going to get tougher for sure," he said about the upcoming finals action on the weekend, which will be streamed live on Olympics.com. "The seeding doesn’t really matter because everyone plays well on their good days. Nowadays men’s singles can go anywhere, so I think it’s more about myself. I need to prepare myself to the fullest that I can.”
He will face Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in the semifinal.
Find all the results from the day's action here.
The latter stages of the tournament are available to stream live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Paris 2024 Olympics app (territorial restrictions may apply).
BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024: How to watch on TV and livestream online
You can watch the weekend action from the Madrid Spain Masters 2024 on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Paris 2024 Olympics app for mobile devices (territorial restrictions may apply).
It will also be available on the BWF TV YouTube channel and on various domestic television broadcasters: in Singapore, games can be watched on SPOTV. Check local listings for details.
For fans in Singapore, Madrid is seven hours behind Singapore Standard Time (six hours on Sunday due to the switch to summer time in the European nation).
If you are unable to find a screen to watch the matches, look out for Olympics.com's reports on the results and best of the action from the event.