India Open: Busanan Shocks Yamaguchi
Busanan Ongbamrungphan’s Paris 2024 dreams received a big boost as she stunned Akane Yamaguchi 21-11 21-19 at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2024 on Thursday.
· TANMOY MOOKHERJEE
Ongbamrungphan made a flying start and held off late nerves to seal the win in straight games, later explaining how her plan to control the game’s pace right from the start paid off.
“Akane is really good in her defensive game, and it's hard playing her every time,” Busanan said. “She can get every shot I hit. I just tried to keep telling myself, ‘Yeah, you can do it, one more shot, keep it going’.”
Busanan is aware her shot at the Olympic Games rests on the two quotas for Thailand. “We have only two tickets for Olympics, so our four or five players have to try hard to get those two tickets,” she said. “I just try to be the best version of myself and just keep taking it one competition, one game at a time.”