Ratchanok Intanon

2009–2012

Ratchanok won her first individual International title in 2009, while she was only 14, by winning the Vietnam International Challenge. She made history by becoming the youngest-ever champion at the BWF World Junior Championships at 14 when she triumphed in Malaysia. She also reached SEA Games 2009 Badminton WS final but lost to her compatriot Salakjit Ponsana.

In 2010, at the age of 15, she successfully defended her title at the World Junior Championships in Mexico. She won two back-to-back Grand Prix tournaments by winning YONEX-SUNRISE Vietnam Open Grand Prix and Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold. In 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, she won a silver medal as a member of the women's team. In the final, she lost to Wang Xin, at that time world number 1, 22-20 17-21 14-21.

In 2011, she became the most successful player ever in individual events at the BWF World Junior Championships, winning the women's singles title for the third straight time in Taiwan. She won YONEX-SUNRISE Syed Modi Memorial India Open and was also a member of the women's team that defeated Indonesia in the final at the 2011 SEA Games. At the BWF World Championships, she was the only player to take a game off of the eventual champion, Wang Yihan.

In 2012 Ratchanok, at 16 years of age, was awarded the Best Female Athlete Award in Thailand after winning the world junior title for three successive years. Ratchanok's biggest goal is to win the Olympic gold medal. However, at 2012 London Olympics quarter-final match with Wang Xin, despite leading 21–17 and 16-9 in the second game, she failed to close the match and eventually lost 21–17, 18–21, 14–21. She reached the finals of the SCG Thailand Open 2012 but lost to Saina Nehwal 19–21 21–15 21–10 in the finals. She entered the finals of a Super Series tournament for the first time in 2012 China Open Super Series Premier but lost to Li Xuerui 12-21, 9-21. She qualified for the Super Series Finals and lost in the semi-finals. She finished the year as world number 9.

2013

2013 was one of Ratchanok's golden years. She reached the finals of the 2013 All England Open Badminton Championships, losing to Tine Rasmussen 14–21, 21–16, 10–21. Despite her loss, she is still the youngest singles finalist ever at the All England tournament. She finally won her first Superseries tournament by beating Juliane Schenk 22-20, 21-14 in Yonex Sunrise India Open 2013 to become the youngest ever Superseries winner, with the age of 18 years 2 months 22 days (She hold this record for 6 months until Akane Yamaguchi won Japan Open 2013 with the age of 16). She again reached the finals of the SCG Thailand Open 2013. This time she won the title, beating Busanan Ongbumrungpan 20-22, 21-19, 21-13 to become the first Thai ever to win the women's singles title at the Thailand Open since first held in 1984.

After the Thailand Open, she decided to withdraw from both Indonesia Open SSP and Singapore Open SS to recover from her foot injury and prepare for the BWF World Championships. In August, Ratchanok won the BWF World Championships, beating world number 1 and Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui 22-20 18-21 21-14 in the final. She is the first ever Thai player to be the World Champion. At the age of 18, she is also the youngest singles World Champion ever. She is the World Champion who is still eligible to play in 2013 BWF Junior World Championships in Bangkok. After World Championships, she injured her back that forced her to withdraw from another two super series events, Japan Open and China Master. Ratchanok didn't qualify for Super Series Final in Malaysia and finished 2013 as the World number 3. She was awarded "2013 Best Females Athletes Award" from Thailand Sport Authority. She finished 2013 with a world ranking of 3.

2014

Ratchanok reached the final of the Korea Open for the first time but lost to Wang Yihan 13-21, 19-21. Her head-to-head statistics with Wang Yihan has been increased to 0-8. She was awarded "Best Asian Sporting Icon" by Fox Sports Asia, based on voting from internet fans from its website. She reached the semi-finals of the All England 2014 to meet with Li Xuerui for the first time after beating her in World Championships of 2013. However, this time she lost to Li Xuerui in 2 sets. After the All England tournament, Ratchanok failed to pass the first round in both 2014 Asian Championship and Japan Open. She reached the finals of the Indonesia Open but again lost to Li Xuerui 13-21, 13-21. After the Indonesia Open, Ratchanok did not reach any finals for the rest of the year. She failed to defend her World Champion title by losing in second round. She qualified for Super Series Final in Dubai but failed to pass the round robin. She finished the 2014 year as World number 6.

2015

At the age of 20, Ratchanok made a comeback by reaching the final of the India Open for the second time, but lost to her opponent, Saina Nehwal, 16-21, 14-21. However, in the quarter finals of the All England Championships while playing Sun Yu, while 13-19 down in the decider, Ratchanok was forced to retire from cramp. Many people were skeptical about her fitness levels. A month later, she created history as the first Thai singles player to be crowned Asia Championship champion by defeating Li Xuerui in the final match 20-22, 23-21, 21-12 in China. It was the first time that Ratchanok had beaten Li Xuerui since the final of the 2013 World Championships. In June, she won her first Super Series Premier title by beating Yui Hashimoto of Japan in straight games, 21-11, 21-10, at the Indonesia Open. However, at the Bwf World Championships, she had to retire from court 8-5 up in the decider against Lindaweni Fanetri in the last 16 stage from cramp yet again. She won a gold medal with Thailand Women's team at the Southeast Asian Games 2015 in Singapore. After the Indonesia Open, she didn't reach the final of any tournaments but earned enough points to qualify for the Dubai Super Series Final tournament. She lost to Wang Yihan in the semi-final, which brought their head-to-head statistics to 0-12. She finished the 2015 season at world number 7.

2016

Ratchanok won Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters 2016, a second Grand Prix Gold tournament in Thailand, by beating Sun Yu of China in the Final 21-19, 18-21, 21-17. She again won Indian Open Super Series for the second time by beating Li Xue Rui in the Final 21-17, 21-18. In Malaysia Super Series Premier the week after, Ratchanok finally won the maiden match over Wang Yihan by beating her in Semi Final 21-11, 21-19. Their head-to-head statistics improved from 0-12 to be 1-12. In the final, she beat Tai Tzu-ying 21-14, 21-15 to earn the Malaysia Open title for the first time. It was Ratchanok's first time to win two consecutive Super series tournaments. Ratchanok then became the first singles player to win 3 Superseries in 3 consecutive weeks by winning the Singapore Super Series, defeating Sun Yu in the final. By winning 3 Superseries in a row, Ratchanok also rose to the No.1 spot in the world rankings, becoming the first Thai to achieve this feat. Intanon qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics and is the Thai flag bearer. At the Olympics she failed to pass the Round of 16, losing out to the Japanese rising star, Akane Yamaguchi, in a close two game match 19-21, 16-21. Ratchanok then withdrew from the Thailand Open, and she lost in the quarter-finals and the second round of the Japan Open and Korea Open respectively. Following that, she withdrew from the Denmark Open as well as the French Open due to a knee injury that she picked up at the Rio Olympics. After that, she played a couple of shots in China before retiring, and then she withdrew from the Hong Kong Open due to the same injury, knowing that she would have secured enough points to qualify for the Super Series Finals. Ratchanok had the goal of making it into the semi-finals of the Superseries Finals, but lost 21-19 21-12 to Sung Ji Hyun, 21-13 21-14 to Tai Tzu Ying, and 21-19 11-10, retiring injured against He Bingjiao. She finished 2016 at a world ranking of 5.

2017

Ratchanok withdrew from her home event, the Thailand Masters, due to a knee injury. Following that, she played in her first tournament of 2017 in March, the Yonex All England Open. She made her way to the quarter-finals, where she had to face off against world no. 2, Carolina Marin. Intanon won 22-20, 13-21, 21-18. She was 11-18 down in the rubber set, but won 10 straight points to close out the match. In the semis, she faced Akane Yamaguchi, who lead the head to heads 6-5. Intanon won 22-20, 21-16 in 48 minutes of play to secure herself a spot in the Final against Tai Tzu Ying. Tai beat Intanon 16-21, 20-22 to win. Ratchanok later in the year took the SCG Thailand Open beating compatriot Busanan Ongbumrungphan in the final, 21-18, 12-21, 21-16. She also bagged the Skycity New Zealand Open beating Saena Kawakami in the final 21-14, 16-21, 21-15.

Current Record Holder

Honors and Awards

Ratchanok Intanon won many awards and honors in recognition of her achievements, below are some of the international prestigious awards she had won so far.

Individual Titles (16)

Individual Junior titles (3)

Personal life

Ratchanok is the daughter of Winutchai Intanon and Kumpan Suvarsara. She also has a brother. Ratchanok was born in Yasothorn province in the Northeast of Thailand, but moved at the age of 3 months with her parents, who worked at the Banthongyord sweets factory in Bangkhae district of Bangkok. She is of Chinese descent. As a child, Ratchanok would run around near the cooking furnaces. Kamala Thongkorn, the owner of the factory, worried that she would be burned by boiling water and hot sugar, so she supported Ratchanok in playing badminton at the factory's badminton courts. She started playing when she was six years old, and won her first championship at the age of seven.

Ratchanok used her prize money and endorsement fees to support her parents and brother. Her father opened a food shop with her help. "I wanted to be a national player like my older friends and play for the country, because that was the only way I could help my parents to improve our status and leave poverty" she said.

Ratchanok currently trains at the Banthongyord Badminton School. Her coach is Patapol Ngernsrisuk, former Olympian and son of Kamala Thongkorn but China's Xie Zhuhua who used to be Li Yongbo sparring partner who was sent to the Banthongyord Badminton School in a partnership with the Thai Badminton Federation and China in 1992 is Ratchanok's coach if she plays tournaments in China. Ratchanok's room-mate at the Bant

Career overview

Performance Timeline

Record against selected opponents

Record against Super Series finalists, World Championships semifinalists and Olympic quarterfinalists (as of 14 April 2016):

Summer Olympics

2012

2016

BWF World Championships

2011

2013

2014

2015

BWF World Junior Championships

2008

2009

2010

2011

Sudirman Cup

2011

2013

Axiata Cup

2013

2014

Royal decorations