Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King (facing camera) are through to the semi-finals
An unseeded men’s doubles pair will win the Kumamoto Masters Japan badminton after the last standing seed was sent packing out.
Japan’s Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi disposed seventh seeds Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 18-21, 21-12, 21-15 in the quarter-finals.
The duo will now take on China’s Wang Chang-Xie Haonan in the semi-finals. The Chinese duo had accounted for giantkillers Jon Yong-Jo Song Hyun of Korea 21-18, 21-21-16.
The Korean duo had picked up an upset over World No 1 teammates Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae in the previous round. They were expected to be competitive in the tie today, but could not effectively counter the relentless attacks from their Chinese rivals.
The other semi-finals will see Malaysia’s Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King taking on Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard.
Aaron-Roy King, who had beaten fourth seeded teammates Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin in the second round, continued their fine run with another upset in the quarter-finals. The world number 57 pulled off an impressive 21-16, 21-12 win over Taiwanese world number 15 Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Poh-Hsuan.
Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, whose international record this year is second to only Korean ace An Se-young, breezed into the semi-finals. The top seed romped past teammate Riko Gunji 21-13, 21-12.
The win sets up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against China’s Chen Yu Fei. The Chinese third seed, meanwhile, was forced to go the distance before defeating Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 18-21, 21-17, 21-11.
It will also be a China-Japan clash in the other semi-finals with second seed Wang Zhiyi taking on Tomoka Miyazaki.
Miyazaki cruised to a 21-14, 21-12 won over Taiwanese Lin Hsiang Ti while Zhiyi had to use all her courtcraft before defeating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-17, 19-21, 21-8.
Alwi Farhan brought high-flying Indonesian teammate Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah in the men’s singles quarter-finals. The sixth seeded Alwi picked up a 21-17, 21-12 win over his teammate, who had beaten top seed Christo Popov in the semi-finals.
Alwi will play India’s Lakshya Sen, the eighth seed, in the semi-finals. Lakshya, the newly crowned Hylo Open champion, gunned down Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-16, 21-15.
The other semi-final will see second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand taking on Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
Kunlavut picked up a comprehensive 21-18, 21-7 win over seventh seeded Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 21-18, 21-7.
Koki overcame a jittery first game before beating Indian veteran Kidambi Srikanth 24-22, 21-15.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Moh Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) 21-17, 21-12; Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 21-16, 21-15; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Srikanth Kidambi (Ind) 24-22, 21-15; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-18, 21-7
Men’s doubles: Wang Chang-Xie Haonan (Chn) bt Jin Yong-Jo Song-hyun (Kor) 21-18, 21-16; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 18-21, 21-12, 21-15; Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King (Mas) bt Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-16, 21-12; Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) bt Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) 21-14, 21-14
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-13, 21-12; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) 18-21, 21-17, 21-11; Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) 21-14, 21-12; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-17, 19-21, 21-8
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Lee Yeon-woo (Kor) bt Kim Yu-jung-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) 21-14, 21-14; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma (Ina) 21-18, 21-16; Hsu Yin-Hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Luo Yi-Wang Tingge (Chn) 21-19, 21-12; Ririna Hiramoto-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) bt Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-19, 21-17
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Chen Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 21-19, 21-16; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) 21-18, 21-14; Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) bt Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) 23-21, 21-12; Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) 21-15, 19-21, 21-16
