# Top seed Chong Wei marches into quarter-finals with ease
# Mixed doubles and women’s doubles pair also advance
# V Shem-Wee Kiong stumble in Tokyo
By Rizal Abdullah
It has been smooth sailing for world No 1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei as the Malaysian marched into the quarter-finals in the USD300,000 Yonex Japan Open in Tokyo on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Malaysian who won his third Olympic silver medal in Rio was hardly stretched in his 21-8, 21-16 win over Chinese qualifier Qiao Bin in a second round match in 39 minutes.
In the first round Chong Wei defeated Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana also in straight sets – 21-14, 21-13 – on a day when Qiao Bin upset Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 23-25, 21-12, 21-14 in a 80 minutes match.
In the quarter-finals on Friday the Malaysian will face another Chinese qualifier Shi Yuqi who beat Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 10-21, 21-12, 21-15. Shi Yuqi won the recent Indonesia Masters.
Malaysia’s number one men’s doubles pair and Rio Olympics silver medal winners Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, however, were knocked out of the tournament after a 23-21, 21-12 defeat to China’s Huang Kaixiang-Wang Yilyu in 47 minutes in a second round match. The fifth seeded Malaysians were expected to go far in Tokyo.
No 5 seeds Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying also advanced to the quarter-finals after a 21-13, 21-15 win over Jacco Arends-Selena Piek in the second round. They next play Korea’s Kim Gi-jung-Shin Seung-chan who beat Japan’s Kenta Kazuno-Ayane Kurihara 21-13, 21-15.
Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei came back strongly to advance to the quarter-finals after losing the first 19-21 to take the next two 21-16, 21-17 in 58 minutes. However, the country’s top women’s doubles pair face an uphill task against second seeds Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark.
The Danes who won the silver medal in Rio beat Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota 21-16, 21-15 in 45 minutes.
In the women’s singles defending champion and No 2 seed Nozomi Okuhara will take on compatriot and last year’s runner-up Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals in a repeat of last year’s final.
Nozomi, who won the bronze in Rio, defeated China’s Chen Yufei 21-13, 21-16 while Akane outplayed Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri 21-11, 21-13 in their second round matches.
Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand stayed on course for her fourth title this year, when she packed off Minatsu Mitani 21-11, 21-10 in 34 minutes. The former world champion, who has won three Superseries titles so far – The India Open, the Malaysia Open and the Singapore Open – will meet China’s He Bingjiao for a place in the semifinals
Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi outplayed Taiwan’s Chiang Kai-hsin-Hung Shih-han 21-7, 21-15 for a place in the quarter-finals. They will face Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharukul-Rawinda Prajongjai next.The Thais beat Eelfe Muskens-Selena Piek of the Netherlands 21-18, 21-14 in 40 minutes.
RESULTS (SECOND ROUND)
Men’s singles
Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Qiao Bin (Chn) 21-8, 21-16
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 10-21. 21-12, 21-15
Marc Zwiebler (Ger) beat Hsu Jen-hao (Tpe) 21-14, 21-18
Srikanth (Ind) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 21-16, 0-0 (rtd)
Khosit Phetpradap (Tha) beat Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 13-21, 21-15, 21-17
Jan O Jorgensen (Den) beat Lee Dong-keun (Kor) 21-14, 21-13
Son Wan-ho (Kor) beat Lee Hyun-ll (Kor) 21-13, 21-8
Viktor Axelsen (Den) beat H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 21-16, 21-19
Men’s doubles
Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) beat Chen Hung-ling-Wang Ch-lin (Tpe0 21-11, 16-21, 21-17
Hiroyuki Saeki-Ryota Taohata (Jpn) beat Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) 21-13, 25-23
Lee Jhe-huei-Lee Yang (Tpe) beat Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Emil Seidel (Ger) 21-9, 24-22
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn) 15-21, 21-18, 21-9
Kim Gi-jung-Ko Sung-hyun (Kor) beat Kenya Mitsuhashi-Yuta Watanabe (Jpn) 21-17, 21-5
Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) beat Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 18-21, 21-16, 21-12
Huang Kaixiang-Wang Yilyu (Chn) beat Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 23-21, 21-12
Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) beat Mads Conrad Petersen-Mads Pieler Kolding (Den) 21-18, 21-18
Women’s singles
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Linda Zetchiri (Bul) 21-11, 21-13
Sun Yu (Chn) beat Chisato Hoshi (Jpn) 22-20, 21-9
He Bingjiao (Chn) beat Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) 21-19, 21-16
Sayaka Takahashi (Jpn) beat Sayaka Sato (Jpn) 21-17, 21-9
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) beat Minatsu Mitani (Jpn) 21-11, 21-10
Aya Ohori (Jpn) beat Cheung Ngan-yi (Hkg) 21-17, 16-21, 21-10
Ayumi Mine (Jpn) beat Kaori Imabeppu (Jpn) 21-16, 21-9
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) beat Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-13, 21-16
Women’s doubles
Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) beat Chaing Kai-hsin-Hung Shih-han (Tpe) 21-7, 21-15
Luo Ying-Luo Yu (Chn) beat Maiken Fruergaard-Sara Thygesen (Den) 21-13, 21-15
Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) beat Rira Kawashima-Saori Ozaki (Jpn) 21-16, 21-15
Shizuka Matsao-Mami Naito (Jpn) beat Kim Hye-rin-Yoo Hae-won (Kor) 21-13, 21-13
Puttita Supajirakul- Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) beat Ou Dongni-Yu Xiaohan (Chn) 21-13, 21-16
Jongkolphan Kititharukul-Rawinda Prajongkai (Tha) beat Eefje Muskens-Selena Piek (Ned) 21-18, 21-14
Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den) beat Yuki Fukuman-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) 21-16, 21-15
Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei (Mas) beat Miki Kashihara-Miyuki Kato (Jpn) 19-21, 21-16, 21-17
Mixed doubles
Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) beat Yuki Kaneko-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) beat Jacco Arends -Selena Piek (Ned) 21-13, 21-19
Nipitphon Phuangpuapech-Jongkolphon Kititharukul (Tha) beat Huang Kaixiang-Yu Xiaohan (Chn) 21-13, 18-21, 21-16
Phuavaranukroh Dechapol-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) beat Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi-wah (Hkg) 21-16, 21-23, 21-12
Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) beat Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) 21-17, 21-15
Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen (Den) beat Liao Min-chun-Chen Hsiao Huan (Tpe) 11-21, 21-8, 21-14
Zheng Siwei-Cheng Qingchen (Chn) beat Soren Gravholt-Maiken Fruergaard (Den) 21-18, 21-13
Kim Gi-jung-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) beat Kenta Kazuno-Ayane Kurihara (Jpn) 21-13, 21-15
