Ratchanok Intanon

Jayce September 6, 2024 4 0

Character Introduction

Ratchanok Intanon (Thai: รัชนก อินทนท์, February 5, 1995), also known as Ithanon, is a Thai female badminton player who has been described as a “talented young woman”, specializing in singles, and has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the world. She has set many records, including winning the 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Junior Championships, becoming the first player to win three consecutive World Junior Championships, and winning the Women’s Singles World Championships in 2013, making her the first World Champion in Thailand’s history, and the youngest women’s singles champion in the history of the World Championships, making her the first in Thai badminton history.

Born into a poor family, Indanon’s parents worked in a sweets factory in Bangkok, Thailand, where she grew up playing with Kamala Thongkorn, the owner of the factory, who also owned the badminton club Banthongyord Badminton School. At the age of six, a coach from Hubei, China, Mr. Xie Zhihua, came to the club and coached Indanon for free, giving her a good foundation for her future career.

At the age of 13, Indanon began playing in youth tournaments under the coaching of former Thai boys’ doubles player Fetabo, and in 2009, at the age of 14, she became the youngest winner of the World Junior Badminton Championships in Malaysia, winning the girls’ singles event. A year later, Indanon went on to defend her women’s singles title at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Mexico, defeating Misaki Matsutomo of Japan in the final.

After defending her World Junior Championships title, Indanon went on to compete in international tournaments in the adult category, winning the Indonesia Golden Grand Prix and the Vietnam Open, before making her debut in the major games in November 2010, representing Thailand at the Guangzhou Asian Games, where she won a silver medal in the women’s team event.

In 2011, Inthanon continued to participate in a number of Grand Prix events, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Grand Prix, the U.S. Grand Prix, and finishing second in the Chinese Taipei Open in September. In October of the same year, Issanon reached the semi-finals of the Danish Premier Grand Prix, making his debut in the quarter-finals of the top five Premier Grand Prix events.

In April 2013, she played in the India Superseries, where she defeated Germany’s Juliane Schenk 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) in the final to win her first Superseries title.

In August 2013, Indanon competed at the Badminton World Championships in Guangzhou, China, as the 4th seed in the women’s singles event. In the final, Indanon won the women’s singles title against top-seeded Li Xuerui of China. In addition to becoming the first world champion in Thailand’s badminton history, she is also the youngest women’s singles champion in the history of the WSC.

In March 2016, Indanon played in the All England Premier Superseries and went out 0-2 (17-21, 19-21) to Carolina Marin of Spain right in the last eight. However, she went on to win three consecutive titles in a single breath at three subsequent super tournaments, the India Super, the Malaysia Top Class Super and the Singapore Super, and even made her debut at No. 1 in the women’s singles world ranking (April 21, 2016) in the following week’s Badminton World Federation rankings list.

In August 2016, Indanon made her second appearance for Thailand in the women’s singles event of the Olympic Games badminton tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeating Kati Tolmov of Estonia and Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong in the group stage to reach the knockout rounds. Indanon faced the tournament’s No. 10 seed and rising star from Japan, Akane Yamaguchi, in the first round and was defeated 0-2 (19-21, 16-21). Indanon said after the match that he did not play well because of the psychological pressure caused by the Olympics.

Indanon cruised to group first in the women’s singles group stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to advance to the knockout stage, defeating Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Donzon 21-12, 21-19 in the round of 16, before losing in the last eight to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying and missing out on the quarterfinals.

World Ranking – Women’s Singles 21, Week 32, 2024

Olympic Points – Women’s Singles 12, 63073 points

Finals Ranking – Women’s Singles 12, 46530 points

Equipment Used

VOLTRIC Z-FORCE II ; AC-102C ; ARCSABER 10 ; NANOFLARE 800 ; BG-65 ; BG66 ULTIMAX ; NANOFLARE 700 ; NANOFLARE 800 PRO ; BG-65Ti ; ASTROX 77

Major Achievements

2024 Spain Badminton Masters Women’s Singles Champion
2023 Australian Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
2023 U.S. Open Badminton Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2023 Canadian Badminton Open Women’s Singles Runner-up
2023 Indonesia Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2022 Denmark Open Women’s Singles quarter-finals
2022 Malaysia Badminton Open Women’s Singles Champion
2022 Indonesia Badmiton Masters Women’s Singles Runner-up
2022 Thailand Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2021 Indonesia Badminton Open Women’s Singles 1st Runner-up
2021 All England Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2020 TOYOTA Thailand Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2020 Indonesia Badminton Masters Women’s Singles Champion
2019 Southeast Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Gold Medal
2019 Hong Kong Badminton Open China Women’s Singles Runner-up
2019 Korea Open Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Runner-up
2019 World Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2019 Thailand Badminton Open Women’s Singles Runner-up
2019 Australian Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2019 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team 3rd Runner-up Member
2019 India Open Badminton Women’s Singles Champion
2019 German Badminton Open Women’s Singles Runner-up
2019 Malaysia Badminton Masters Women’s Singles Champion
2018 Badminton World Federation Year End Finals Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
2018 Hong Kong China Open Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Runner-up
2018 Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Bronze Medal
2018 Malaysia Open Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2018 Uber Cup Women’s Team Runner-up
2018 India Open Badminton Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
Indonesia Badminton Masters 2018 Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
2018 Malaysia Badminton Masters Women’s Singles Champion
2017 Badminton World Cup Super Series Finals Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2017 Hong Kong China Badminton Premier Super Series Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2017 China Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2017 Denmark Badminton Premier Super Series Women’s Singles Champion
2017 New Zealand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Champion
2017 Thailand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Champion
2017 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team 3rd Runner-up
2017 All England Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Singles Runner-up
2016 Singapore Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Champion
2016 Malaysia Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Champion
2016 India Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Champion
2016 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Team Bronze Medal
2016 Thailand Badminton Masters Women’s Singles Champion
2015 Badminton World Cup Super Series Finals Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Hong Kong Badminton Super Series China Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Bitburger Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Badminton Super Series France Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Thailand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Southeast Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Champion
2015 Chinese Taipei Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2015 Indonesia Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Singles Champion
2015 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Singles Champion
2015 India Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Singles Runner-up
2014 France Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2014 Indonesia Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Singles Runner-up
2014 All England Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
2014 Korea Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Singles Runner-up
2013 Denmark Badminton Superseries Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2013 World Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Champion
2013 Thailand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Champion
2013 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team 3rd Runner-up
2013 Badminton India Superseries Women’s Singles Champion
2013 Swiss Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Runner-up
2013 All England Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Runner-up
2012 BWF Super Series Finals Women’s Singles Quarter-finalist
2012 China Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Singles 1st Runner-up
2012 Thailand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles 1st Runner-up
2012 Uber Cup Women’s Team Quarter-finals
2012 Swiss Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2011 India Badminton Grand Prix Women’s Singles Champion
2011 World Junior Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Champion
2011 Denmark Super Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2011 Chinese Taipei Badminton Open Women’s Singles Runner-up
2011 USA Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2011 Australian Badminton Open Women’s Singles Quarter-finals
2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team 1st Runner-up
2010 Indonesia Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Singles Champion
2010 Vietnam Badminton Open Women’s Singles Champion
2010 World Junior Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Champion
2009 World Junior Badminton Championships Women’s Singles Champion