Teenage shuttler Ratchanok Intanon will play in the Chinese badminton league starting this month.
Badminton star Ratchanok Intanon, centre, is greeted by father Vinatchai and mother Kamphan at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday. SOMCHAI POOMLARD
The 17-year-old returned to Bangkok yesterday from London where she reached the quarter-finals of the women's singles at the 2012 Olympics.
She was greeted at Suvarnabhumi airport by her father Vinatchai Intanon and mother Kamphan Suwannasana as well as hundreds of well-wishers.
World No.10 Ratchanok hugged her parents and burst into tears.
"I would like to apologise to everyone for my failure to win an Olympic medal," she told reporters.
"I did my best and have learned a lot."
Ratchanok won the first game against world No.2 Wang Xin in the quarter-finals and led 16-10 in the second.
But the Chinese rallied to win the match.
"I have to improve my physical strength," said the three-time defending world junior champion.
She will go to Hua Hin or Pattaya for a rest before going to play in the Chinese Super League with the Tsingtao team later this month.
The team offered her a lucrative contract following her performance at the Olympics and at this year's Uber Cup in China.
"I will learn a lot from playing there," she said.
She will play alongside some of China's top players such as Ma Jin and Xu Chen, who are ranked second in the world in the mixed doubles.
Kamala Thongkorn, owner of Ban Thongyord badminton club where Ratchanok is playing for, said she would receive a seven-digit sum per season from the Chinese team plus 25,000 baht for a win and a bonus for winning the title.
The Tsingtao team are two-time defending champions. The Super League season begins on Aug 23 and ends in December, according to Kamala.
Khunying Pattama Leesawadtrakul, Thailand's badminton team manager, said Ratchanok would become successful in China.
She said she was satisfied with the players' overall performance in London.
"They gave their all but still have to improve their physical fitness," she said.
Mixed doubles pair Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam and men's doubles duo Bodin Isara and Maeepong Jongjit also lost in the quarter-finals.
Boonsak Ponsana, the other Thai shuttler in London, crashed out in the first round in the men's singles.
Thailand have not yet won an Olympic medal in badminton.