TOP seed Hu Zhe An of China eased past Macau’s Ou Ka Hou to lead 10 other men’s singles seeded players into the fourth round of the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2024 at Gor Among Raga Hall in Yogyakarta today.
Hu needed only 20 minutes to down Ou to set up a clash against Indonesian Henry Leander in tomorrow’s fourth round while second seed Patcharakit Apiratchataset also confirmed his spot, but not after a hard battle against Justin Tay before winning 19-21, 21-9, 21-13 over the Singaporean.
UAE’s third seed Bharath Latheesh had no problem brushing aside Thailand’s Paisit Theinthong 21-16, 21-12 while China’s fourth seed Wang Zi Jun dashed home shuttler Ryan Putra Widyanto’s hopes by overcoming the Indonesian 21-16, 21-14.
The other seeded players who were through to the third round include Pranay Shettigar of India (5th seed), andIndonesia’s Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah, Korean Cho Hyeon Woo (10), Lee Sun Jin (Korea, 11th), Indian Druv Negi (12th), Pranuv Ram Nagalinga (India, 14th) and Yoon Ho Seong (Korea, 15th).
However, it was the end of the road for Malaysia’s sixth seed Muhammad Faiq who suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Kazuma Kawano, losing 17-21, 18-21 in 42 minutes to the Japanese. India’s 13th seed Rounak Chouhan was also shown the exit after falling 17-21, 21-18, 21-15 to unseeded Indonesian Richie Duta Richardo in a 66-minute marathon duel.
In the women’s singles, Thailand’s Anyapat Pichitpreechasak (2nd), India Navya Kanderi (7th) and Malaysian Ong Xin Yee (6th) were the notable casualties after losing their respective encounters today.
The battle gets intense as 16 players battle out in tomorrow’s third round in pursuit of spots in the quarterfinals, with top seed Sarunrak Vitidsarn taking on India’s top junior shuttler Tanvi Sharma and second seed Siti Zulaikha of Malaysia up against Korean Kim Do Yeon.
Defending champion (4th seed) Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari, who defeated Kim Min Ji 21-14, 21-13 in today’s second round, will be the centre of attraction as she meets China’s Yin Yi Qing in tomorrow’s battle for a place in the last eight.
In the men’s doubles U-19, top seed Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai of Malaysia had no trouble advancing into the third round after a 24-minute 21-14, 21-15 win over Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Thai Son/Tran Quoc Khanh. The Malaysian pair meets Indonesia’s Dexter Farrell/Wahyu Agong Prasetyo in tomorrow’s clash for a place in the quarterfinals.
Four seeded pairs were shown the exit in today’s second round with the biggest upset caused by home pair, Darma Karsten Spenser/Dapa Lesmana who shocked UAE’s second seed pair Dev Ayyapan/Dhirev Ayyappan 17-21, 21-15, 21-16 in 56 minutes.
India’s Mohamad Arsh/Sanskar Saraswat upstaged China’s fourth seed Chen Yong Rui/Chen Zhe Han, seventh seed Eakanath Kitkawinroj/Tankhun Settaprasert of Thailand suffered defeat at the hands of Hong Kong China’s Cheung Sai Shing/Deng Chi Fai while Malaysian pair Loh Ziheng/Tan Zhi Yang halted Japan’s eighth seed pair Kenta Matsukawa/Yuto Nakashizu’s campaign.
Fourth-seed women’s doubles pair Mysha Omer Khan/Taabia Khan found themselves out of contention after losing to unseeded Filipino pair Andrea Princess Hernandez/Mary Destiny Untal 22-20, 21-7.
Top seed Naphachanok Utsanon/Sabrina Sophita Wedler of Thailand are set against Japan’s Mikoto Aiso/Niina Matsuta in tomorrow’s third round after winning over India’s Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat 17-21, 21-7, 21-10 in 47 minutes.
Meanwhile, the biggest upset of the day was caused in mixed doubles competition, with Malaysian pair Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah/Dania Sofea advancing into round three after defeating top seed Attawut Sreepeaw/Sabrina SophitaWedler in a hard-fought battle of 16-21, 21-17, 26-24.
Datu Anif/Dania will now have to get past Singapore’s Mark Wong Kai Ji/Li Zheng Hong in tomorrow’s third-round clash for a ticket to the quarterfinals.
Other notable casualties include UAE’s Bharath Latheesh/Taabia Khan (3rd seed), Li Hong Yi/Zhang Jia Hin (China, 4th), Lee Jong Min/Yeon Seo Yeon (Korea, 7th) and Nge Joo Jin/Xiao Eng Heng of Singapore (8th).
For results and match schedules, follow: https://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=c25ea851-b47a-4bf8-b589-8ad1a188a8a4
