Nitchaon Jindapol and Pornpawee Chochuwong yesterday ensured the women's singles title of the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters badminton tournament will remain in the Kingdom for at least another year.
The duo had to dig deep to win their semi-final matches and set up an all-Thai final at Bangkok's Nimibutr Stadium today.
Thai players will also vie for three more titles today after women's doubles stars Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, men's doubles pair Tinn Isriyanet and Kittisak Namdash and mixed doubles team of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Puttita Supajirakul also made it to the finals.
Spurred on by a vocal home crowd, top seed Nitchaon rallied to beat Malaysia's fourth seed Soniia Cheah 16-21, 21-15, 21-17, while third seed Pornpawee also needed three games to overcome another Malaysian player Kisona Selvaduray 14-21, 21-9, 21-11.
The 2017 champion Busanan Ongbamrungphan had pulled out of the US$150,000 tournament because of an ankle injury.
Just like Nitchaon and Pornpawee, Jongkolphan and Rawinda had to come from behind to defeat their opponents.
The top-seeded Thais dropped the opening game 18-21 against No.3 seeds Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean of Malaysia but fought back bravely to win the next two 21-13, 21-17 in 88 enthralling minutes.
Savitree Amitrapai and Pacharapun Chochuwong failed to make it another all-Thai affair, losing to Indonesian second seeds Anggia Shitta Awanda and Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani of Indonesia 14-21, 18-21.
Still on a high after their upset win in the previous round, Tinn and Kittisak claimed another seeded scalp, beating No.3 pair Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 21-15, 22-20.
Tinn and Kittisak stunned second seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in the quarter-finals on Friday.
They play seventh seeds Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira and Ade Yusuf Santoso of Indonesia in today's final.
Dechapol and Puttita will vie for the mixed doubles crown after the seventh seeds defeated Chen Tang Jie and Peck Yen Wei of Malaysia 21-19, 21-13 in their last-four match.
They take on fifth seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying. The Malaysians knocked out another Thai pair, Nipitphon Phuangphuapet and Jongkolphan, 15-21, 11-21.
Unseeded Kantaphon Wangcharoen, the lone Thai hope in the men's singles event, was unable to continue his fairytale run, losing to Malaysia's Leong Jun Hao 22-20, 19-21, 18-21 in 76 minutes.
Leong will meet Tommy Sugiarto in today's final. The Indonesian second seed defeated Malaysia's Daren Liew 17-21, 21-17, 21-18.
The event, which ends today, was launched three years ago in honour of HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, a former national team player who won gold in the women's team event at the 2005 SEA Games.
Nitchaon Jindapol plays a shot during her semi-final match against Soniia Cheah. PHOTOS: Thiti Wannamontha