The world No8, after losing the second round-robin match of group B to Nozomi Okuhara on Wednesday, put on a masterclass of her all-round game to beat the Canadian at 21-13 21-12 in just 37 minutes.

It was a sweet revenge for Ratchanok, who was eliminated by Li from the All England Open in March.

With two wins in three matches, the Thai No1 finished second in the group behind leader Okuhara.

On Saturday she faces Sindhu V. Pusarla the winner of group A, while Okuhara will face  defending champion Akane Yamaguchi, the runner-up of A group.

Other Thais joining joining Ratchanok in the semi-finals were the mixed doubles pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taeratanachai.

They lost their last group A round-robin match to Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong 21-9 21-8 but had already booked their semi-final spot by clinching second place to the Chinese pair, thanks to a win on Thursday over the British pair Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith of Greta Britain.

In women’s doubles, Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai were knocked out of the tournament after losing to Japanese Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara 5-21 12-21.

The shortlist for the end-of-season showpiece also includes the northern English city of Manchester and Italy’s Turin, while the London deal, which runs until 2020, could be extended.

The announcement of the candidates follows an extensive bid application process that began in August, in which more than 40 cities worldwide expressed an interest in hosting the event.

The final phase will see the ATP visit the cities, with a decision on the successful candidate to be made not before March 2019.

“The level of interest we have received worldwide throughout the bid application process reflects the rich heritage of this unique tournament, as well as the success of the event at the O2 since 2009,” said Chris Kermode, ATP executive chairman and president.

The ATP Finals were first held in Tokyo in 1970 and have been staged in some of the major cities around the world, including New York, Sydney, and Shanghai.

Its longest stay in a single venue was across 13 consecutive editions at Madison Square Garden from 1977 to 1989 but it has been held at London’s O2 arena since 2009 — drawing more than 250,000 fans annually.

The tournament has been won by many of the all-time greats, including Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The season-ending event features only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams following a year-long race to qualify.

Federer and Djokovic were split at last month’s tournament, won for the first time by Germany’s Alexander Zverev, over whether it should remain in London.

Federer, who has won the event a record six times, twice in London, said the British capital was the perfect fit.

But world number one Djokovic, who has won the event five times — four times in London — said he was in favour of moving the tournament around to promote the sport.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) made an offer, reported to be £65 million ($82 million), to buy Wimbledon Park Golf Club’s land in a move that would see its estate roughly triple in size.

On Thursday, the All England club announced a vote had gone in its favour, and that the transfer, pending court approval, would go through on December 21.

A statement said it was “an important and exciting step” for the club and the future of Wimbledon.

“The decision of the Wimbledon Park Golf Club members to vote in favour of the acquisition offer is a hugely significant moment for the AELTC and the Championships,” said All England club chairman Philip Brook.

“We have achieved what we set out to do many months ago in having certainty in our planning for the future.”

Top of the wish list will be moving the Wimbledon qualifiers from their current Roehampton home to the main Wimbledon site, in keeping with the other three Grand Slam events.

“Over time, we plan to migrate the qualifying competition onto the land in order to elevate the event to world-class standards,” the statement added.

The 25-year-old Poom led the second round clubhouse with nine-under-par 63 to take lead in the second round of the BNI Indonesian Masters.

“I was just lucky today, I think I like this course. I won here before two years ago. My putting was very good today,” he said.

Poom, who won the 2016 the Indonesian Masters in 2016 compiled a two-day total of 14-under-par 130, lead his fellow Thai golfers Suradit Yongcharoenchai and Jakraphan Premsirigorn who scored a 66 and 65 respectively.

Jakraphan who missed the cut in six straight events before finishing tied-second in Pakistan in October said sharing second place gave him a much needed confidence in the tournament.

“I’m playing on this golf course for the first time and to be able to post a 65 today is a really good achievement,” he said.

Former US Open champion Justin Rose from England, whose first round on Thursday was disrupted by a severe thunderstorm, remains six shots back of Poom after he signed for a 68.

Rose was previously only one shot behind his compatriot John Catlin and South Korea’s Sungho Lee, who shared the lead at the Asian Tour’s season-ending event with opening rounds of 66 on Thursday.

“It was a bit more windy today. Today was tough to make birdies, I wasn’t quite on my game,” Rose said after the game.

Friday’s play was suspended due to fading light at 5.50pm local time, leaving 20 players having to return on Saturday morning to complete their rounds.

The pair was put to the test by Briton Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith before prevailing 21-16 21-19 to secure a spot in the semi-finals. They will play the last round-robin match against home favourites Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China in the battle for the top position of the group.

In women’s doubles, Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai beat Gabriela Stoeva and Stefanie Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-16 21-18 to stay in contention group B after losing to Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan of South Korea 14-21 8-21 in the first match.

However, Thai singles players were far from success in their second round-robin matches. Ratchanok Intanon lost her steams in the third game and went down to 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-14 11-21 14-21.

In  men’s singles group B, Kantaphon Wangcharoen suffered his second straight defeat as he was outclassed by reigning world champion Kento Momota of Japan 18-21 6-21. The Thai No 2 was knocked out of the competition despite having one more match remaining.

India’s P.V. Sindhu pulled off a shock at the badminton World Tour Finals on Thursday as she fought back to defeat top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying for the first time in over two years.

Sindhu sank to her knees at the end of an exhausting 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory over the Taiwanese in 62 enthralling minutes in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The 23-year-old, a silver medallist at the Rio Olympics in 2016, faces Zhang Beiwen of the United States on Friday looking to make it three wins out of three in Group A of the $1.5 million end-of-year showpiece.

“Each point was hard fought,” said a relieved Sindhu, ranked sixth in the world.

“There were long rallies with good strokes. She was very deceptive and I had to be ready for her strokes.

“Even though I was trailing in the third game I didn’t lose hope and I kept fighting.”

It was a disappointing day for Taiwan as men’s world number three Chou Tien-chen also lost.

Chou was on the end of an 18-21, 21-11, 21-14 defeat to South Korea’s buoyant Son Wan-ho.

There was no such trouble for men’s number one and world champion Kento Momota of Japan.

He is in ominous form as he looks to put the seal on a breakthrough year and swatted aside Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-15, 21-7 for a second win in a row.

China’s Shi Yuqi, one of the main threats to red-hot Momota in the men’s draw, dismissed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, 21-8, 21-19 in 37 minutes.

The Serbian coach has been in a vulnerable situation after Thailand, as five-time champions, crashed out in the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals on the away goals rule to Malaysia.

Rajevac, therefore, has his last chance to plead in the Asian Cup which will take place in the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to February 1.

“The condition is he has to lead the team to a better result. That means the round of 16,” said Football Association of Thailand president Somyot. “By doing so, he will pass the test. If the team goes further, he is lucky. But if not, we have to on separate ways,” he added.

As two-time defending champion, Thailand failed to reach the AFF Cup final for the first time in eight years after a goalless draw with Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and a 2-2 draw in the return game at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

Meanwhile, Rajevac yesterday revealed his 27-man squad for the Asian Cup and it consists of four key internationals: Chanathip Songkrasin of Consadole Sapporo, Theerathon Bunmathan of Kobe Vessel, Teerasil Dangda of Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Kawin Thamasatchanan of Oh Leuven.

Players will start training from next Tuesday and will play a warm-up match with Thai Honda, a local League 2 team, on December 26 after which Rajevac will trim his squad down to 23 players.

“We need a not-too-tough game to test the tactics and test each player,” he said. “Initially we planned to have a warm-up with Nepal but unfortunately they were committed to a local league.”

The Thailand players will fly to UAE on December 30 and take on Oman as their final warm-up before the Cup.

Thailand, in group A, will open their campaign with India on January 6, then with Bahrain on January 10 and the host on January 14.

The top two teams in each of the six groups plus the four best third-placed teams will progress to the round of 16 knockout stage.

Meawnhile, forward Mongkol Tossakrai announced his retirement from the national team after he was not included in the Asian Cup list. The 31-year-old said he will focus on his career with Army United from now on.

Lightning activities around the Royale Jakarta Golf Club led to the suspension of play at close to 4pm (local time) before officials decided to call off play for round one about an hour later.

62 players including defending champion Justin Rose of England will resume their first round at 6.20am (local time) on Friday morning. Rose is at five-under through 14 holes.

Playing alongside Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and India’s Anirban Lahiri, Catlin showed the form that led him to three Asian Tour wins this season when he marked his card with seven birdies and one bogey to set the early pace at the Asian Tour’s season-ending event.

With only his tied-14th finish in Chinese Taipei as his best result on the Asian Tour this year, Lee is determined to put up a strong showing to end his year on a high at the US$750,000 event.

The 31-year-old Korean is currently in 95th place on the Habitat for Humanity standings and will need a huge lift to finish inside the top-62 and save his Tour card for the 2019 season.

Philippines’ Angelo Que meanwhile returned to familiar surroundings in the best of form after playing in Japan for a large part of this year.

Apart from a bogey-five on 16, the three-time Asian Tour winner showed his commanding form by signing for a 67 to stay one shot back of Catlin and Lee.

Like Que, tournament drawcard Stenson also posted a 67 to put himself in contention in his tournament debut.

The point was enough to put Bayern into the last 16 as group winners on a bad-tempered night in Amsterdam with five goals, two penalties and two red cards in an action-packed second half.

“That was an advert for football,” beamed Bayern head coach Niko Kovac.

“We had the clearer chances and could have finished the game much sooner, but we didn’t use the spaces.

“However, the most important thing was to finish top of the group and with 14 from 18 points we are happy.”

Kingsley Coman came off the bench to put Bayern 3-2 up on 90 minutes before Nicolas Tagliafico equalised for Ajax in the fifth minute of added time.

After Lewandowski gave Bayern a first-half lead, Ajax turned the game around after the break as Dusan Tadic tapped home, then converted a penalty with eight minutes left.

However, Bayern roared back with Lewandowski scoring a spot-kick three minutes from time before Coman put the Germans back in front and Tagliafico could only rescue a point when victory would have seen the Dutch outfit usurp their opponents at the top of the table.

Lewandowski’s brace leaves him as the Champions League’s top-scorer with eight goals in the group stage.

– Dangerous challenges –

Ajax’s Maximilian Woeber and Bayern forward Thomas Mueller were shown straight red cards for dangerous challenges.

There was little hint of the drama to come when Bayern took the lead in only the 13th minute at Ajax’s Johan Cruyff Arena when Serge Gnabry’s perfectly-timed pass put Lewandowski in behind the Dutch defence.

It should have been 2-0 14 minutes later when Gnabry served up a great chance for Lewandowski, but a fantastic save by Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana blocked his shot.

Having earned a 1-1 draw in Munich at the start of October, Ajax kept the Germans under pressure.

It was 1-0 to Bayern at the break, but the Germans found themselves in the unusual position of enjoying just 40 percent possession, content to sit back and hit Ajax on the break.

Bayern were under intense pressure and the hosts deservedly drew level after a series of high-speed passes opened the away defence, giving Tadic a simple tap-in at the far post with an hour gone.

The game sparked into life with Onana again producing another superb save to deny Lewandowski moments later, just before Woeber was sent off for lunging in on Goretzka’s ankle.

Mueller trudged off soon after, leaving Tagliafico with a bloodied head with 15 minutes left for going in high on the Argentinian.

Mueller’s red card swung the momentum back in Ajax’s favour.

Jerome Boateng’s clumsy foul on Danish substitute Kasper Dolberg gave Ajax a penalty which Tadic slammed home.

Substitute Thiago Alcantara won the penalty Lewandowski slotted in and Coman’s superb curling shot made it 3-2, before Tagliafico gave Ajax short-lived hope.

Already through to the last 16, Jose Mourinho made eight changes at the Mestalla, including a return for Paul Pogba, but United were largely outplayed by their Spanish opponents, who sit 15th in La Liga.

After the game, Mourinho seemed to aim a dig at those players to have come in. “Nothing surprised me at all,” he said.

Carlos Soler’s driven shot and a Phil Jones own-goal put Valencia two up early in the second half before United came alive in the final minutes after Marcus Rashford’s header gave them brief hope.

Perhaps Mourinho and his players had assumed Juventus would win away at Young Boys but the Italians’ surprise 2-1 loss meant United had first place within their grasp.

Instead, they go through as runners-up into Monday’s draw for the last 16, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Porto all potential opponents.

As group winners, they would have had Atletico Madrid, Roma, Schalke, Ajax or Lyon.

“Apart from a couple of clubs that are clearly much better than the others, I don’t think the draw will be significantly different,” Mourinho said.

“There are teams that finish second that the ones that finish first will not be happy to play against.”

Porto would probably be the favoured pick but on this evidence, they might feel the same about United. After all, Valencia also made changes, eight of them, with their fate resigned to dropping into the Europa League.

Valencia had failed to score in six of their previous eight Champions League games while poor form in La Liga has their coach Marcelino fighting for his future.

After drawing against Sevilla last weekend, their fans swung white handkerchiefs in the air to demonstrate their dissatisfaction.

“We needed this winning feeling back in our game,” said Marcelino afterwards.

Pogba, left out against Arsenal and Fulham, started here but contributed little, save for a glaring miss in the first half. Eric Bailly also came in but his partnership with Jones was rocky all night.

United made Valencia look like world-beaters in the opening 45 minutes. They were slow in possession and just as sluggish out of it. Frustration bubbled and burst, as a handful of tackles flew in and missed.

Valencia were excellent. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Dani Parejo both went close early on before another pinball session in the penalty area saw the ball land at the feet of Soler. He looked up, picked his spot and drove into the far corner.

Michy Batshuayi should have made it two but headed over and Mouctar Diakhaby could have had a penalty when denied a simple finish by the clambering Marouane Fellaini.

United had the occasional opening, the best of them falling to Pogba, who somehow stabbed wide after Fellaini’s header offered him a tap-in from two yards at the back post.

Jones marched off at half-time shaking his head, having berated his midfield for failing to track back, but the interval brought no relief.

Almost as soon as they restarted, Romelu Lukaku misread a Bailly pass. Just as others had before, Bailly threw his arms up in frustration.

Soon after it was two, Soler’s pass landing between Sergio Romero and Jones, with Batshuayi on the chase. Jones panicked, met the ball on the slide, and pushed it past his approaching goalkeeper and into his own net.

There were 43 minutes left but a United comeback never looked likely until Rashford, on as a substitute, headed home in the 87th minute. Jesse Lingard had done well to keep the ball alive before Ashley Young supplied the cross.

Juan Mata could even have equalised. Pogba’s scooped ball over the top left him alone in front of goal but he missed the ball as he tried to volley on the turn. A point would have been more than United deserved.