Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai bowed out of the US$1 million China Open at the quarter-final stage in Changzhou yesterday.
The world No.11 mixed doubles pair, the last remaining Thai players in the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event, fell to top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong 21-17, 14-21, 19-21 in just under an hour.
Zheng and Huang, who won the Japan Open title a week ago, will meet fourth seeds Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong in the semis.
In the women's singles, sixth seed Carolina Marin of Spain defeated Gao Fengjie of China 21-10, 24-22 while second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan overcame seventh seed He Bingjiao of China 21-19, 21-16.
Marin will next play either Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia or eighth seed Nozomi Okuhara while Yamaguchi will meet Chinese fifth seed Chen Yufei, who battled past Indian third seed Pusarla V Sindhu 21-11, 11-21, 21-15. In-form Marin is looking to make it three titles in as many tournaments after winning the world championships in August and the Japan Open last Sunday.
Second seed Shi Yuqi of China stormed into the last four of the men's singles with a 21-17, 21-15 win over Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong. However his sixth seeded compatriot Chen Long failed to advance, losing to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-18, 20-22, 16-21.
Japan's world champion Kento Momota, who won his home tournament last Sunday, stayed on course for back-to-back titles after demolishing seventh seed Srikanth Kidambi of India 21-9, 21-11 to set up a last-four clash with Shi.
Taiwan's fifth seed Chou Tien Chen eliminated South Korean fourth seed Son Wan-Ho 21-17, 21-14 and will play Ginting in the semis.
