Thailand stun China to make Uber Cup final

Thailand's women battled their way into the final of the Uber Cup today with a stunning 3-2 upset of defending champions China, with Busanan Ongbamrungphan once again emerging as the star with a nerveless last game defeat of Olympic champion Li Xuerui.

To the roaring approval of the fiercely partisan home crowd, Busanan crushed Li -- who was returning from injury -- 21-11, 21-9, setting up a showdown on Saturday against top seeds Japan.

Earlier Japan brushed off a challenge by South Korea 3-1.

But the day belonged to the Thais, whose win sparked jubilant on court celebrations and ended a see-sawing match up with tournament favourites China.

World Number 4 Ratchanok Intanon won the first singles game, grinding out a 15-21, 21-9, 21-14 win over China's Chen Yufei, who is ranked one place behind her.

With crowds shouting "Thailand! Thailand!" Ratchanok hit smash after smash to come back after losing the first game to win two in a row.

"I was a bit excited because every point was important, especially in the final rounds," she told reporters afterwards.

"I thank the Thai sport fans that come to support."