<p>Spain's fifth seed and former world number one Carolina Marin breezed into the final of badminton's Thailand Open Saturday, beating South Korea's An Se-young 21-19, 21-15.</p>.<p>The 27-year-old Spaniard, ranked sixth in the world, is aiming for back-to-back titles in this week's tournament -- the second of three consecutive events in Bangkok that culminate in next week's World Tour Finals.</p>.<p>She came out on top last week against top-seeded Tai Tzu-ying, and continued her winning streak Saturday, maintaining her signature aggressive play against seventh-seeded An.</p>.<p>She spoke of the mental battle of motivating herself just days after being victorious.</p>.<p>"Sometimes it's tough for the mindset when you win a tournament just three days ago and you have to start a tournament all over again," the reigning Olympic champion said after the match.</p>.<p>The pair had already duelled in last week's tournament, with the more experienced Marin winning in a quick 21-18, 21-16 match.</p>.<p>She will face Tai Tzu-ying again in Sunday's finals, who came back after a first-set slump to beat homegrown star Ratchanok Intanon in a 12-21, 21-12, 23-21 nail-biter.</p>.<p>The tense third set was marked by extended rallies before the top-ranked Taiwanese athlete dealt the winning shot against her Thai opponent.</p>.<p>"In the final moments of the match I just enjoyed playing badminton on court again," said Tai.</p>.<p>"I can say (Marin) is very fast and I'll try to keep up."</p>.<p>The men's singles saw a huge upset when Denmark's third-seeded Anders Antonsen was knocked out of the tournament by his compatriot, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.</p>.<p>Antonsen had survived a bruising game the day before against India's Sameer Verma, and the impact showed Saturday as he appeared slower in responding to Vittinghus' attacks, who won the game 21-19, 21-8.</p>.<p>"I totally lost hope (by the second game)," admitted Antonsen, who has recovered after contracting coronavirus in December.</p>.<p>The win was unexpected, even for the 42nd-ranked Vittinghus. He had a flight booked back to Denmark on Saturday that he said would now have to be rescheduled.</p>.<p>"I can say that this feels pretty awesome... I'm really looking forward to the final tomorrow," said Vittinghus, who will face fourth-seeded compatriot Viktor Axelsen on Sunday.</p>.<p>The players have been facing off in a spectatorless stadium in Bangkok -- a coronavirus precaution taken by Thailand as part of its biosecure "bubble" to accommodate players who flew in from across the world.</p>.<p>Despite the efforts of tournament officials, four positive cases have been detected so far, forcing an Indian player and an Egyptian player to withdraw.</p>
<p>Spain's fifth seed and former world number one Carolina Marin breezed into the final of badminton's Thailand Open Saturday, beating South Korea's An Se-young 21-19, 21-15.</p>.<p>The 27-year-old Spaniard, ranked sixth in the world, is aiming for back-to-back titles in this week's tournament -- the second of three consecutive events in Bangkok that culminate in next week's World Tour Finals.</p>.<p>She came out on top last week against top-seeded Tai Tzu-ying, and continued her winning streak Saturday, maintaining her signature aggressive play against seventh-seeded An.</p>.<p>She spoke of the mental battle of motivating herself just days after being victorious.</p>.<p>"Sometimes it's tough for the mindset when you win a tournament just three days ago and you have to start a tournament all over again," the reigning Olympic champion said after the match.</p>.<p>The pair had already duelled in last week's tournament, with the more experienced Marin winning in a quick 21-18, 21-16 match.</p>.<p>She will face Tai Tzu-ying again in Sunday's finals, who came back after a first-set slump to beat homegrown star Ratchanok Intanon in a 12-21, 21-12, 23-21 nail-biter.</p>.<p>The tense third set was marked by extended rallies before the top-ranked Taiwanese athlete dealt the winning shot against her Thai opponent.</p>.<p>"In the final moments of the match I just enjoyed playing badminton on court again," said Tai.</p>.<p>"I can say (Marin) is very fast and I'll try to keep up."</p>.<p>The men's singles saw a huge upset when Denmark's third-seeded Anders Antonsen was knocked out of the tournament by his compatriot, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.</p>.<p>Antonsen had survived a bruising game the day before against India's Sameer Verma, and the impact showed Saturday as he appeared slower in responding to Vittinghus' attacks, who won the game 21-19, 21-8.</p>.<p>"I totally lost hope (by the second game)," admitted Antonsen, who has recovered after contracting coronavirus in December.</p>.<p>The win was unexpected, even for the 42nd-ranked Vittinghus. He had a flight booked back to Denmark on Saturday that he said would now have to be rescheduled.</p>.<p>"I can say that this feels pretty awesome... I'm really looking forward to the final tomorrow," said Vittinghus, who will face fourth-seeded compatriot Viktor Axelsen on Sunday.</p>.<p>The players have been facing off in a spectatorless stadium in Bangkok -- a coronavirus precaution taken by Thailand as part of its biosecure "bubble" to accommodate players who flew in from across the world.</p>.<p>Despite the efforts of tournament officials, four positive cases have been detected so far, forcing an Indian player and an Egyptian player to withdraw.</p>