Kunlavut, mixed doubles duo in last 8
Kunlavut Vitidsarn and mixed doubles pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai advanced to the quarter-finals of the US$1.25 million Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Men’s singles eighth seed Kunlavut defeated fellow Thai Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-14, 21-17 in the round of 16 of the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event at Axiata Arena in the Malaysian capital city.
Kunlavut next faces Loh Kean Yew of Singapore after the third seed defeated
Zhao Junpeng of China 21-15, 21-18.
Mixed doubles second seeds Dechapol and Sapsiree proved too strong for Terry Hee Yong Kai and Jessica Tan Wei Han, cruising past the Singaporean pair 21-12, 21-13 in just 31 minutes.
They face Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia in today’s quarters.
Defending champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China also reached the last eight after they beat Goh Soon Huat and Jemie Shevon Lai of Malaysia 21-16, 21-10.
There is no Thais left in the women’s singles event. Pornpawee Chochuwong went down to Carolina Marin of Spain 21-14, 21-17 while Busanan Ongbamrungphan lost to top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 21-15.
Marin goes on to meet fourth seed Chen Yufei of China while Yamaguchi faces Mia Blichfedt of Denmark.
Olympic champion Chen beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-13, 10-21, 21-13 and Blichfedt overcame Aya Ohori of Japan 21-17, 19-21, 21-14.
Second seed An Se-Young also progressed to the last eight after the Korean beat Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia 21-10, 21-12.
She next plays eighth seed Wang Zhiyi after the Chinese beat Pai Yu-po of Taiwan 21-13, 21-10.
In the women’s doubles event, Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard lost to third seeds Kim So-Yeong and Kong Hee-Yong of South Korea 21-17, 23-21 while Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul also lost to Yujia Jin and Crystal Wong Jia Ying of Singapore 21-18, 25-23.