Dechapol, Sapsiree advance in Hong Kong
Mixed doubles pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai got off to a winning start at the Hong Kong Open yesterday.
The Thais defeated China’s Ren Xiangyu and Zhou Chaomin in the first round of the US$400,000 tournament.
Dechapol and Sapsiree will be hoping to go farther than their performance last week when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Fuzhou China Open.
In yesterday’s qualifying round, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk beat Hong Kong’s Hu Yun to earn a place in the main draw of the men’s singles.
In today’s first round, Tanongsak will meet sixth seed Son Wan-Ho from South Korea.
In the women’s singles, sixth seed Ratchanok Intanon will begin her campaign against Japan’s Sayaka Sato today.
On paper, the Thai star, who reached the quarter-finals last week, should have few problems against the Japanese.
However, her compatriots face uphill tasks.
Nitchaon Jindapol is up against third seed PV Sindhu of India, while Busanan Ongbamrungphan will take on Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin of Spain who is seeded fifth in Hong Kong.
In the men’s singles, world champion Kento Momota of Japan will meet Chinese great Lin Dan.
Momota, 24, won the Fuzhou China Open on Sunday, beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 11-21, 21-16 in the final.
Momota collapsed to the court floor and lay on his back exhausted after finally seeing off Chou.
The Japanese has been one of the hottest shuttlers this year, winning the world and Asian titles and four events on the World Tour.
In the women’s final in China, there was disappointment for Japan when seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara lost to home player Chen Yufei.
Fourth seed Chen won the title with a 21-10, 21-16 victory.