Eight men's singles seeded shuttlers are going to lock horn one-to-one today,
as all of them won in the round of 16 on Wednesday at the Doha Asian Games.
Chinese top seed Lin Dan took a place in the quarterfinals first, beating
Poompat Sapkulchananart of Thailand 21-14, 21-16.
The world number one is slated to vie against eight-seeded Ng Wei of Hong
Kong of China.
The third-seeded Bao Chunlai from China is expected to fight a tough battle
against Indonesian Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat. The 23-year-old Bao got rid
off formidable Ronald Susilo of Singapore 21-15, 17-21, 21-14 while
seventh-seeded Taufik went through a severe challenge from Park Sung Hwan,
beating the South Korean 21-18, 19-21, 21-17.
Besides, fourth-seeded Lee Hyun Il of South Korea is going to vie against
fifth-seeded Hashim Muhammad Hafiz of Malaysia, as both of them finished off
their rivals in two straight sets.
Thai top player Boonsak Ponsana needed three sets to settle up Anup Sridhark
from India 21-17, 19-21 and 21-16. The number six seed is pitted against
second-seeded Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
In the women's part, top two seeds Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang of China
needed little effort to finish off their rivals in straight sets.
Athens Olympic champion Zhang is going to meet seven-seeded YipPui Yin of
Hong Kong of China, while world champion Xie to face Japanese Eriko Hirose.
Japanese Kaori Mori and Malaysian Wong Mew Choo were the only two seeds
eliminated in this round.
In the mixed doubles section, Chinese pair Zheng Bo and Gao Ling knocked off
seven-seeded Songphon Anukritayawon/Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand
21-16, 21-13
Zheng and Gao, only paired up three weeks before the Asian Games, clinched
their first win in 25 minutes. They are going to challenge the top-seeded
Indonesian Nova Widianto and Liliyana in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Besides, last year's world champions Die Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen won over Hui
Wai Ho and Wong Olivia Sin Yee of Hong Kong of China 21-11, 21-16. The young
Chinese pair will then face Malaysian Koo Kien Keat/Quay Swee Ling.
Men's and women's doubles players are going to fight for the quarterfinal
berths on Thursday.
