ALL ENGLAND 2013 Finals – Fairytale finish for Tine Baun

An emotional Tine Baun (pictured left) had a fairytale end to an incredible career as she overcame rising Thai star Ratchanok Intanon in the final of the Yonex All England Badminton Championships, 21-14, 16-21, 21-10.

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent, live from Birmingham.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto (live).

A battle between youth and experience, this match saw Ratchanok Intanon (pictured right), who would have been the youngest women’s singles winner at the All England ever, into her first Superseries final.

Intanon held a head to head record of 3-1 against opponent Tine Baun, who with two titles already, finished her career on a high by surpassing all expectations to win the final of her last and favourite tournament.

The first game saw an even exchange early on, but the Dane took the better of some incredible net exchanges to hold the edge at the halfway point, leading 11-8.

Clearly nervous, Intanon was unsettled by how strongly Baun came out, as the Dane used all her experience to pull away, taking the first game 21-14.

An incredible defence from Intanon saw her race to a 10-4 lead against Baun, as she played some spectacular deceptive drops to confound the Dane.

Never one to give up on a game however, Tine Baun fought back to reduce the deficit to only 16-17.

Intanon put heavy pressure on Baun in the rear court to give herself an opportunity at match point 16-20, which she took as Baun hit a drive hard into the net.

Baun pulled out all the stops as she went out with a hard attack in the deciding game to take an 11-3 lead, as Intanon struggled to keep pace.

Intanon appeared to let the occasion get to her as Baun manoeuvred and smashed her way through the Thai player, who was just not consistent enough with her shots to take the game.

Tine Baun raced away to hold match point at 20-7. Intanon saved 3 match points but she was too far behind against another player who specialised in recoveries, as Baun completed the fairy tale finish at the Yonex All England.

Speaking after the match, Ratchanok Intanon said: “I think maybe the excitement got the better of me and I couldn’t control myself. I felt very nervous. In the third set, I felt that I was not so tired but I was slower than at the start. I think as it was her last game she played excellently.”

Obviously a star for the future, she spoke of the tournament: “I love Birmingham, I have had lots of support here. I felt good this week and am looking forward to hopefully winning here in the future.”

An emotional Tine Baun spoke to say: “The first two [All England titles] were good but this one is extra special. This is a tournament that I always keep playing in I love it here and I love my supporters, thank you. I knew that I would play my best and I felt great on court. I could have run in that hall for two hours, I had so much energy.

About the game, “Mentally it was very tough, but physically it was not as tough as yesterday. I have gained so much power and motivation from winning yesterday. I was playing my game, if she [Intanon] played fantastic like she has the talent to then that would be fine, there would be nothing I could do, but if she was a little nervous and made a few mistakes then I knew I would definitely win today.

The emotions of her final game were obviously very important, as she continued: “At the end, when I was 20-9 up I was thinking ‘this could be my last rally’ so a lot of emotions went through my head at the end. It’s not that easy [to quit] when you have a result like this, but I am happy I am quitting at the top, I remember a lot throughout my career like winning here and playing the Olympics.”

The full results for the day can be found here.

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