The Badminton Association of Thailand (Bat) sent a squad of 13 to the five-star tournament, and the country's best hopes are the mixed doubles pair of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee and Boonsak Ponsana in the men's singles.

Saralee and Sudket, who have won two bronze medals at the World Championships, are joint third seeds.

They played Keita Matsuda and Miyuki Maeda in the first round yesterday and the Thai pair withstood a sturdy challenge from the Japanese to win 2-1. They next play Taiwanese pair Tsai Chia Hsin and Cheng Wen-Hsing and are expected to make it into the quarter-finals.

However, team-mates Songphon Anukritayawon and Kulchala Voravichitchaikul fell just at the first hurdle. The Thais lost 2-1 to fifth seeds Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen of China.

In the men's singles, Thai No 2 Poompat Sapkulchananart performed superbly to defeat New Zealand's John Moody 2-1 in the first round and then defeated Malaysia's Keoh Kay Bin 2-1 in the second round yesterday.

Boonsak had a first round bye and started in style with a win in his second round match yesterday. He defeated Japan's Takashi Kawauchi 2-0 yesterday.

In the women's doubles, two Thai pairing are into the second round. Saralee and Sathinee powered past Japan's Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda 2-0, while team-mates Duang-Anong Arunkesorn and Kulchala Voravichitchaikul defeated Manami Ebushi and Komoe Kanayama of Japan 2-0.

In the women's singles, Thailand's Soratja Chansrisukot started well with a 2-0 win over Japan's Kanako Yonekura, while Salakjit Polsana beat Hong Kong's Yip Pui-yin 2-0 and Monthila Meemek defeated Taiwan's Chang Ya-lan 2-0.

The Nation, Agencies

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