Kuching: Defending champion and No. 7 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand will face No. 2 seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the women’s singles quarter-finals at the US$600,000 Superseries tournament in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state on Friday.
The 22-year-old Ratchanok survived a tough battle against compatriot and World No.12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round of the Malaysia Open on Thursday, as she cruised past Ongbamrungphan 23-21, 21-18 in 47 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Olympic champion Carolina Marin was equally impressive as she cruised past Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand 21-14, 21-18 in 46 minutes.
In women’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi of Japan survived a harder than expected second round match against Anggia Shitta Awanda/Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani of Indonesia, needed 52 minutes to edge past the Indonesian pair 21-17, 24-22 to enter the quarter-finals. The No. 1 seeds will square off against No. 8 seeds Huang Dongping/Li Yinhui in the quarter-finals.
