The men’s singles draw was turned on its head at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships today as two of the top four seeds crashed out in a dramatic round of 16.
Top seed Yih Chung-Hsiang saw his title hopes ended by Japan’s Daiki Masuda, who battled to a 21-13, 17-21, 21-18 victory in front of the home supporters.
Masuda had earlier accounted for Hong Kong China’s Zhang Shing Yui in the previous round and now moves into the quarter-finals with growing confidence.
There was more disappointment for the hosts when fourth seed Shunki Hagiwara went down to Malaysia’s Tiew Wei Jie, 21-17, 21-15.
The Malaysian youngster advances to the last eight, where he will meet China’s Hong Tianyu.
China continue to dominate the men’s singles field, with Xu Jining and Luo Jing Yu also securing their places in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Riyan Malhan and third seed Adam Jeslin had already bowed out in the earlier rounds.
Malhan was beaten by Xu Jining, while Jeslin’s campaign ended against another Chinese player, Chen Kai Qi, underlining China’s strength across the boys’ competition.
The women’s singles draw was no less dramatic.
Top seed Yuzuno Watanabe suffered a surprise 17-21, 21-8, 19-21 defeat to China’s Sun Linyuan in the round of 16.
Second seed Yataweemin Ketklieng was another casualty, falling 21-11, 21-16 to China’s Zhang Yixin.
With several leading seeds already out of contention, the race for the individual titles in Yatsushiro has been thrown wide open as the tournament heads into the quarter-final stage.
