NINOVE – Our compatriot won a bronze medal in singles at the wheelchair badminton world championship in Pattaya (Thailand). “I am satisfied and have learned something new.”
For the first time in her career, Man-Kei To reached the semi-finals of a world singles championship (WH1 class). The tournament went very well up to and including the quarter-finals.
With the Thai Pookkham, an absolute world star was on the other side of the net in the semi-finals. She is a multiple world champion and won silver at the Games in Tokyo. Moreover, she had the home crowd behind her.
Bronze
Pookkham got off to a strong start in the first set and Man-Kei To soon had to chase. She ended it with a better feeling, but still finished 21-12. She started set two with more aggressiveness and built up a nice lead, which the Thai in turn could not make up for. Kiki leveled the score at 14-21.
In a decisive third set we saw the scenario of set one: Pookkham started sharper and took an early lead. After a timeout, our compatriot got back into her game, but the match went to the Thai with 21-12, 14-21, 21-11.
Paris
“I am satisfied with that three-setter,” Kiki said afterwards. “In the third set I put a little too little pressure on her at the beginning, which caused her to distance herself. Then I picked myself up and played my own game. Pookkham is a very strong opponent and I adapted a little too much. I will take that with me from this world championship to the next tournaments, I will learn from this. We still have four tournaments towards the Paralympic Games in Paris.”
The G Badminton World Championship in Pattaya ended for Man-Kei To with a bronze medal, her best performance ever at a World Singles Championship. In the mixed doubles she was eliminated in the quarter-finals together with her doubles partner Jaime Aranguiz (CHI).
Info: WK G-badminton.
MLI – Copyright BadmintonPhoto
2024-02-25 03:19:13
#World #Championship #bronze #ManKei
