Thai wonderkid keen to hit top form again

From the high of winning a world championship to an injury-enforced lay-off, Ratchanok Intanon has seen it all. The 21-year-old had, in 2013, become the youngest singles world champion in badminton history when she defeated reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui.

Since then, however, frequent injuries and subsequent bad form had seen her career graph dip. The Thai wonderkind however, is determined to claw her way back into contention in the build-up to the Olympic Games.

“I’m injury-free right now. My body feels strong and I’m training hard to make my way back to the top,” she said after her straight games 21-12, 21-18 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Yu Po Pai at the Asia Championships here on Tuesday.

Currently ranked no. 4 in the world, Ratchanok is primed for the quadrennial extravaganza, to be played this August at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Ratchanok is coached by Pattapol Ngernsrisuk, who had “discovered” her at his family-owned sweets factory in Bangkok. “Her parents worked at our factory, and they sent her to the courts for fitness. It was then we realised she was really good at badminton,” Pattapol said.

Her recent travails notwithstanding, Ratcha-nok is quietly confident about her chances of getting back to the top.

Talk invariably turned to Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu, both of whom she had beaten in the past.

“Sindhu is tall and has a more attacking game while Saina is craftier, and tries drawing you into long rallies. They are both challenging,” she said.