Saina and Sony reign supreme in Thailand

India’s Saina Nehwal and Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro emerged victorious in the SCG Thailand Open on Sunday to walk away with the women’s and men’s singles crown.

Saina (left), lived up to her billing as the top seed with a brilliant come from behind victory over second seed and three-time world junior champion Ratchanok Inthanon while three-time Asian champion Sony, grabbed his first title in a long while by beating unknown Chinese youngster Yuekun Chen.
Saina, who also won the Swiss Open earlier this year, was given a scare by the 17-year-old Ratchanok, who was aiming for her first home title.
Ratchanok took the first game 21-19 but Saina’s experience began to tell and the Indian ace, who will be hoping to upset the odds in the Olympics later this year, came storming back to level the match 21-15.
She was in complete control in the decider and eventually ran away with it 21-10 to close out the 65-minute match.
Sony, meanwhile, put two years of hell firmly behind him by grabbing the title by beating his Chinese rival.
Sony has battled a catalogue of injuries this past 24 months and many had even written off the former Olympic bronze medallist and former World Championship runner-up.
Still only 27, Sony is currently ranked 65 in the world but vowed during the Axiata Cup in April to do all he can to climb his way back to the top.
He took the first step towards that journey on Saturday when he stunned four-time world champion Lin Dan in the semi-finals and on Sunday crushed Yuekun Chen 21-17, 21-14 to claim the title.