Throughout the long exciting rallies during the 78-minute match, Ratchanok had to dig deep to upset the world No 3, who had entered the match with a 7-1 head-to-head record over the Thai.

Ratchanok, who at 18 years old became the youngest world champion in the same Chinese city in 2013, came from behind to take the opening game in 21 minutes before the Chinese raised her level to level the tie by taking the second set in 30 minutes.

In the final set, Ratchanok led from the start but could not pull clear, until at 17-16 down, Chen lunged for a drop shot, hurt her left ankle and needed on-court treatment.

When play resumed, Ratchanok dictated four points in a row to finally score her second career win over Chen. The Thai No 1 will next play 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan on Thursday.

In men’s group B first round-robin match, Thai No 2 Kantaphon Wangcharoen suffered his four straight defeat to  Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia who beat him 21-18 18-21 21-11.

A total of six Thais have qualified for the BWF Finals this year – the mixed doubles team of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia 21-19 21-10 but women’s doubles Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai lost to Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan 21-14 21-8.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, world badminton champion Kento Momota made a lightning start, rampaging past India’s overwhelmed Sameer Verma in just 36 minutes.

The Japanese star is looking to put the seal on a breakthrough year in which he has risen to No1 in the rankings and become world champion for the first time.

It is all a far cry from 2016, when Momota was expelled from Japan’s team for the Rio Olympics and banned for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino.

The 24-year-old had too much quality and power for Verma, ranked 14th in the world, thrashing him 21-18, 21-6 to confirm his status as the man to beat in Guangzhou.

Also untroubled in her opener was the women’s No1, Tai Tzu-ying from Tawian, who defeated Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-15, 21-17 in 30 minutes.

Apart from devoting much time to charitable causes and catching up with his Bangkok family, the man nicknamed “Arm” also yesterday paid a visit to his main benefactor Santi Bhirombhakdi, CEO of Boon Rawd Brewery, at the company’s headquarters in Bangkok.

He paid tribute to Santi for his support, which he said had been instrumental in his success over the last 12 months, and presented him with a garland as an expression of his thanks.

Kiradech will next be in action from December 21-23 at the Amata Cup in Bangkok, a unique mixed match-play event in which Thailand will take on Japan.

Four men and four women from each nation will compete at the Amata Country Club, where Kiradech will team up with women’s No1 Ariya Jutanuagrn, her sister Moriya and the veteran Thongchai Jaidee.

This project is one of the company’s three biggest projects invested.

The Chee Chan Golf Resort features 18 holes of championship golf designed by David Dale of Golfplan near the giant Chee Chan Buddha engraving.

It was opened on Wednesday by Narit Chia-Apar, chairman of Chartered Square, who said: “I love golf. I know how golfers think and what they want. I know the level of service that is expected, and so I built the course based on my needs as a golfer, and not just as an investor.”

It has Zemet Zoysia grass on tees and fairways. The Buddha engraving can be seen from the View restaurant.

The Japanese star is looking to put the seal on a breakthrough year in which he has risen to number one in the rankings and become world champion for the first time.

It is all a far cry from 2016, when Momota was expelled from Japan’s team for the Rio Olympics and banned for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino.

The 24-year-old had too much quality and power for Verma — ranked 14th in the world — thrashing him 21-18, 21-6 to confirm his status as the man to beat in Guangzhou.

Also untroubled in her opener was the women’s number one, Tai Tzu-ying from Tawian, who defeated Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-15, 21-17 in 30 minutes.

The world No 8, semi-finalist last year, won the marathon match in one hour and 18 minutes for her second career win against the 3^rd ranked opponent who beat her seven times before.

The Thai No 1 will next play 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan on Thursday.

Borussia Dortmund qualified as Group A winners for the Champions League last 16 after beating Thierry Henry’s Monaco 2-0 on Tuesday.

Portugal’s Raphael Guerreiro scored twice to claim all three points for the visitors as Atletico Madrid could only draw 0-0 at Club Brugge.

Lucien Favre made nine changes from Saturday’s derby victory against Schalke which continued their superb unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season.

“It’s a perfect evening. On the whole it was a deserved victory,” Favre said.

Henry started four teenagers in a meaningless game for the Ligue 1 strugglers who were guaranteed to finish bottom of the group for a second straight campaign after defeat at Atletico in round five.

The former France striker stated he used the fixture as a warm-up for Sunday’s domestic trip to Lyon.

“Dortmund posed a real challenge. We’ll recover quickly and prepare for Lyon,” he said.

“Right now we have a problem, to sort things out in Ligue 1.”

Monaco have failed to win in 14 European games and the Germans made it through to the knockout stage of the top-tier competition after having to settle for a Europa League place last season.

With a quarter of an hour on the clock the Germans attacked and the ball was worked to striker Maximilian Philipp inside the box.

His low cross found winger Guerreiro at the back post to tap in.

Dortmund centre-back Abdou Diallo, who spent three seasons with the principality outfit earlier in his career, wasted a good chance on the half-hour mark as he scuffed his shot wide despite being unmarked in the box.

In a scrappy second half neither team could muster a clear shot on goal until Guerreiro added his second of the game and fourth in the competition so far this season from a delicate Paco Alcacer lay-off on 88 minutes.

In Belgium it finished goalless between Club Brugge and Atletico and the Germans finished above the Spanish club on their head-to-head record.

Last year’s runners-up Liverpool knew victory by two goals or a 1-0 triumph would put them through to the last 16 from Group C, and Salah’s cool 34th-minute strike proved enough as they finished ahead of Napoli on goals scored.

“Wow, what a game. I am not sure a manager could be prouder of a team than I am,” Reds boss Jurgen Klopp told BT Sport.

Paris Saint-Germain reached the knockout rounds as group winners thanks to a 4-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade, with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani all on the scoresheet.

Liverpool grabbed the crucial goal at a raucous Anfield, as Salah jinked past Kalidou Koulibaly inside the area and slotted the ball beyond goalkeeper David Ospina.

Salah, who had already wasted an earlier chance with a heavy touch, continued to run Napoli ragged early in the second half, but Ospina saved from Jordan Henderson and James Milner curled wide as Carlo Ancelotti’s men stayed a goal from turning the group on its head.

The atmosphere around Anfield became increasingly tense as the Premier League leaders continued to miss opportunities, with Ospina springing to his left to tip away Salah’s attempted lob before denying Mane from point-blank range.

Senegal forward Mane was guilty of two further snatched efforts in front of goal, and Napoli almost made the Reds pay in the dying moments.

The ball fell for substitute striker Arkadiusz Milik unmarked in the area, but Alisson raced from his line to keep out the Pole’s strike with his legs.

“I have no idea how Alisson made a save like this,” gushed Klopp. “It was amazing.”

PSG went into their match in Belgrade knowing that victory would send them through, and Edinson Cavani gave the French champions the perfect start by tapping in after an excellent run and pass by Kylian Mbappe.

Neymar’s strike five minutes before half-time appeared to have put the game to bed, but Red Star, who had already beaten Liverpool and held Napoli in Serbia earlier in the campaign, pulled one back before the hour mark through Marko Gobeljic.

But PSG finally sealed their spot in the last 16 as Marquinhos headed in Angel Di Maria’s free-kick with 16 minutes to go and Mbappe added further gloss to the scoreline in added time.

“We made mistakes, but I really liked the reaction after Belgrade’s goal. We controlled the match,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel told RMC Sport.

– Spurs come back from the brink –

Spurs went into their final Group B game at the Camp Nou needing to match Inter Milan’s result against PSV Eindhoven in Italy, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side fell behind in only the seventh minute as Ousmane Dembele scored a wonderful individual goal.

Hirving Lozano gave PSV a shock early advantage at the San Siro, though, to leave Tottenham heading through as it stood.

The English club had plenty of half-chances against a much-changed Barca, who had already won the group, but Philippe Coutinho almost made it 2-0 when his low shot struck the post.

Mauro Icardi levelled for Inter against PSV with 17 minutes left to leave Spurs needing to score at least once.

Tottenham, who were facing an early elimination when trailing PSV in their fourth group match before rallying to win and then beating Inter, continued to push and Moura met Harry Kane’s low cross in the 85th minute to cap a dramatic group-stage revival.

“I always believed it was possible to win the game,” Spurs manager Pochettino told BT Sport. “We fully deserved to go through with Barcelona. We were the best (two) teams in a difficult group.”

Borussia Dortmund snatched top spot in Group A with a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Monaco, as Atletico Madrid were held to a goalless draw at Club Brugge.

Raphael Guerreiro tapped in Maximilian Philipp’s low cross in the 15th minute against Thierry Henry’s crisis-hit Monaco, before slamming in a second late on.

“It’s a perfect evening. On the whole it was a deserved victory,” said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre.

Earlier on Tuesday in Group D, Galatasaray secured a Europa League last-32 place despite losing 3-2 to Porto in an entertaining game which saw two of three penalties scored.

The 39-year-old Carballo, who came through Asian Tour Qualifying School in January, achieved the biggest milestone in his 16-year professional career by becoming the 2018 ADT Order of Merit Champion.

“I’m very happy because I’ve played on so many Tours around the world but this is the first time I’ve won something big like the Order of Merit title. It’s a huge achievement for me,” said Carballo, who is a former player on the PGA Tour and previously won on the Challenge Tour and the Web.com Tour.

Carballo was in the driver’s seat on the merit ranks for close to 14 consecutive weeks following his maiden ADT victory in August. Coming into the event with a US$8,290 lead, his closest rivals to the crown were Thai duo Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij and Nitithorn Thippong, who both needed to win the season-ending event to gain the top spot.

However, Carballo safely crossed over to the weekend rounds to strip their chances of catching up, and he finally sealed the deal with a seventh-place finish to cap a stellar rookie season on the ADT with total earnings of US$43,378.

The Argentinean made his debut on the ADT at the Richard Mille Brunei Championships in March, when he decided to take the road less travelled to focus on the region’s secondary circuit because he recognized that the numerous playing opportunities would be a springboard to success for him.

“This year I have been travelling back and forth from Argentina and playing a lot more ADT events because there were so many tournaments to play on the ADT,” said Carballo, who hails from Bahia Blanca.

“Golf is not huge in Argentina. There have been so many good players back in the good old days like Ángel Cabrera and I hope to inspire more young golfers to come to Asia to compete,” added Carballo, who became the first Argentinean to lift the prestigious crown.

In what is his also first full season on the Asian Tour, Carballo has notched two top-10 finishes on the region’s premier Tour on top of his eight top-10 ADT results, and is hoping to continue his affinity with Asia after successfully keeping his full playing rights for next season.

“I decided to come down to Asia because I was not playing well in America and was looking for something different. Now that I have secured my card for 2019, I have bigger goals on the Asian Tour,” said Carballo.

Nitithorn, Varanyu, Han Lee, Janne Kaske, Mathiam Keyser and Shinichi Mizuno, who all finished inside the top-seven on the Order of Merit with Carballo, also earned playing rights on the region’s premier Tour for 2019.

The Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in January will kick start a new ADT season for 2019. Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points are offered on all ADT events with the winner earning a minimum of six OWGR points while the top-six players and ties earn points on a sliding scale.

Sharma’s glorious run this season started with his second Asian Tour win in Malaysia in February followed by a tied-ninth finish at the World Golf Championships in Mexico in March, where he led in the second and third rounds.

He went on to play in all four Major championships this year and his season was further sweetened by three top-10s in India, Malaysia and Hong Kong which would eventually give him an unassailable lead on the Habitat for Humanity Standings.

Sharma’s achievements have not gone unnoticed by the tournament’s marquee players Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson who are also expected to light up the BNI Indonesian Masters with their star power along with the country’s leading golfer, Danny Masrin.

While Rose is the highest-ranked player at the BNI Indonesian Masters this week, the world number two is under no illusions it will be a walk in the park as he prepares to put up a stout defence of his title.

Playing in Indonesia for the first time, Stenson is aware of the stiff Asian challenge and is hopeful of putting up a strong performance despite his lack of experience playing at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club where the Asian Tour’s US$750,000 season-ending event will be played this week.

Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines is ready to defend his title against Hayato Suzuki of Japan in a highly-anticipated rematch.

Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, who hails from Baguio City, Philippines, captured the ONE Strawweight World Championship with a unanimous decision victory over former titleholder Yoshitaka Naito at ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES last September. It was an epic rematch between the two warriors, as Pacio put together the performance of a lifetime to claim the prestigious title.

The 22-year-old Filipino has shown tremendous improvement over the past few years leading up to his title reign. With the ONE Strawweight World Championship firmly in his grasp, he looks to make a successful first defense against the last man to defeat him.

Hayato Suzuki, who hails from Takahagi City, Japan, first met Pacio in his promotional debut at ONE: KINGS & CONQUERORS in August 2017. The 32-year-old scored a shocking first-round submission victory, forcing the Filipino to tap out via rear-naked choke. Since then, the Japanese grappler has been on a tear, winning his last three bouts with the same submission hold.

An experienced grappler, Suzuki looks to replicate that stellar performance against Pacio and will attempt to claim the ONE Strawweight World Championship at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY on 19 January.