Thai star Kunlavut Vitidsarn cruised into the quarter-finals of the BWF China Masters, but compatriot Ratchanok Intanon suffered a shock loss in Shenzhen on Thursday.
Men’s third seed Kunlavut took 49 minutes to defeat home player Lu Guangzu 21-17, 21-12 to progress to the last eight of the Super 750 event.
Kunlavut, who is without a win since the season-opening Malaysia Open in January, will take on fifth seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the quarters.
The Dane defeated Kunlavut in the Thailand Open final in May, denying the Thai world No.3 his third win in his home tournament and his second title of the year.
Women’s sixth seed Ratchanok went down to Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 20-22, 17-21. It was the Thai veteran’s first loss against Nalbantova in three meetings.
Supanida Katethong kept Thai hopes in the women’s singles event alive as she defeated Taiwan’s Chiu Pin-chian 29-27, 21-15 to reach the quarters.
Awaiting the Thai left-hander in the quarter-finals is Japan’s third seed Akane Yamaguchi, who defeated South Korea’s Sim Yu-Jin 21-15, 21-16 on Thursday.
The Aimsaard sisters — Benyapa and Nuntakarn — reached the last eight of the women’s doubles event after they battled past fifth seeds Tan Pearly and Thinaah Muralitharan of Malaysia in a three-game thriller, 21-16, 17-21, 21-19.
They will play Yvonne Li of Germany and Iris Wang of the United States or Sayaka Hirota and Ayako Sakuramoto of Japan next.
But mixed doubles pair Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai bowed out, losing to top seeds and 2024 champions Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping of China 21-15, 21-23, 17-21.