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Published on November 22, 2007

The Thai duo, who defeated the English pair in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open last month, prevailed once again 24-22 13-21 21-14.

The Thai world No 9 pair next take on Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Britta Andersen of Denmark.

Kunchala Voravichitchaikul and Songphon Anukrittayawan needed just 20 minutes to thrash Eva Lee and Howard Bach of the US 21-18 21-17. The winners next face China's Xu Chen and Zhao Tingting.

In men's doubles, Sudket and Phattapol Ngernsrisuk bowed down to their old foes Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark 21-16 21-18. It was sweet revenge for the Danes, who lost to the Thai pair in the 2005 Malaysia Open.

In men's singles, Boonsak Ponsana and Poompat Sapkulchananart had to pack their bags early after suffering defeats.

Boonsak lost 21-18 21-12 to Malaysia's world No 2 Lee Chongwei, who is fresh from winning the French Open, for the sixth successive time. Poompat was eliminated by Bao Chunlai of China 21-17 21-18.

It was a similar story in the women's section as Thai players suffered premature exits, with two of them falling to Chinese opponents.  Thailand's No 1 Salakjit Ponsana went down fighting to China's Zhang Ning, who is ranked second in the world, 21-18 21-4, while Soratja Chansrisukot lost 21-6 21-19 to Jian Yanjiao. Monthila Meemek lost 22-24 21-2 21-6 to Pi Hongyan of France.

 The Nation