Tokyo: Olympic men’s doubles silver medalists Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong were out of the Japan Open after losing to youngsters from China Huang Kaixiang/Wang Yilyu 23-21, 21-12 in 36 minutes on Thursday.
Men’s doubles No. 2 seeds Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen of Denmark, Korea’s scratch pair Kim Gi Jung/Ko Sung Hyun, and China’s No. 8 seeds Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen all advanced to the quarter-finals.
In women’s doubles, World No. 1 and Rio Olympic gold medalists Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo of Japan needed only 31 minutes to ease past Chiang Kai-hsin and Hung Shih-hah of Taiwan 21-7, 21-15.
“I was not in good shape before the tournament, but I am getting better,” said Takahashi, who led the attack with powerful smashes.
Takahashi/Matsutomo will set up a quarter-finals match with Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand on Friday.
