Women’s doubles top seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara of Japan survived a scare from Thailand’sPuttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai to win 21-14 13-21 21-6.

The first 10 points in the second game were closely-fought but the Thai pair, fired up by home fan support maintained a steady lead and won.

Long rallies and well-placed shots by the Japanese in the third game, however, proved too challenging for the Thais and Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai succumbed quickly.

In the men’s doubles, Japan’s Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko took one game from third seeds China’s Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen, nicknamed “The Twin Towers” but lost 9-21 22-20 18-21.

Match of the Day

A three-game thriller saw Indonesian youngsters Yulfira Barkah/Jauza Fadhila Sugiarto take the more experienced Korean’s Chang Ye Na/Kim Hye Rin to task before conceding the women’s singles 21-12 12-21 14-21.

Talking point

“I don’t feel any pressure from my family to perform. The only thing my father has always told me since the day I chose to play badminton at the age of nine, is that I better make sure I play it well,” – Jauza Fadhila Sugiarto, daughter of former Indonesian world champion Icuk and sister of men’s singles player Tommy.

Other results

Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro defeated Asia Junior Champion 2019 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-19 21-11 and later China’s Sun Fei Xiang 21-11 22-20 in the men’s singles qualifying round of the TOYOTA Thailand Open 2019 to set up a round two meeting with Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.

In the men’s singles qualifying, China’s Ren Peng Bo of China took 66 minutes, the longest match of the day, to triumph over Thailand’s Thanongsak Saensomboonsak 17-21 21-10 21-12. Ren later defeated Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei 21-13 21-19 to set up a  clash with fifth seed Srikanth Kidambi of India.

The last match of the day saw Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi defeat men’s doubles fourth seeds Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 18-21 21-16 23-21.

In late news, men’s singles world No.1 and top seed Kento Momota, fresh off his victory in Japan last week, has withdrawn from his first-round encounter against India’s Subhankar Dey with a left thigh muscle strain.

CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS