Pornpawee guns down hot Okuhara

Heartbreak! Thai mixed pair bow out

Pornpawee Chochuwong booked her berth in the women’s singles final of the US$500,000 BWF Australian Open in Sydney yesterday, but mixed doubles pair Ruttanapak Oupthong/Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat missed out on a chance to vie for the biggest win of their careers.

Second seed Pornpawee overcame Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, edging past the former world champion 21-18, 11-21, 21-12 in 66 minutes to reach the final of the Super 500 tournament.

The 28-year-old last won a tournament at the 2025 Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters. Sunday will be her first appearance in a final since the Thailand Open in May last year.

Pornpawee will be up against Japan’s top seed Akane Yamaguchi, who defeated third seed Pusarla V Sindhu of India 22-20, 21-12 in the other semi-final on Saturday.

Mixed doubles third seeds Ruttanapak and Jhenicha fell just short against second seeds Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui of China in a three-game battle, 9-21, 21-19, 17-21.

Guo and Chen set up a title duel with top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in an all-Chinese clash. Feng and Huang defeated Presley Smith and Jennie Gai of the United States 21-16, 18-21, 21-7.

The men’s doubles decider will be a battle between third seeds Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia and fourth seeds Chen Boyang/Liu Yi of China.

Top seeds Jia Yifan/Zhang Shuxian of China and seventh seeds Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari of Indonesia will meet in the women’s doubles final.

In the men’s singles event, third seed Alwi Farhan beat Jason Gunawan 21-11, 17-21, 21-9 in an all-Indonesian clash. He will face either China’s Dong Tianyao, who reached his maiden Super 500 semi-final, or Moh Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in the title match.