Ratchanok Intanon takes on old foe Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals of the US$355,000 Singapore Open today.
The Thai fifth seed survived a tough test against Han Yue, rallying to beat the unseeded Chinese 19-21, 21-11, 21-13 in the last 16 round yesterday.
Third seed and world No.4 Yamaguchi, meanwhile, had little trouble against 112th-ranked Grace Hui Zhen Chua, cruising past her Singaporean opponent 21-6, 21-11 in just 26 minutes at the BWF World Tour Super 500 event.
The eighth-ranked Ratchanok won her second title of the year at the India Open a couple of weeks ago, becoming the first female triple winner of the tournament. She lost to Yamaguchi in the German Open final last month.
Ratchanok, the 2016 Singapore Open winner, is the only Thai left in the women's singles event after both Busanan Ongbamrungphan and Pornpawee Chochuwong lost yesterday.
Busanan fell to second seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan while Pornpawee was beaten by sixth seed Saina Nehwal of India.
In the men's singles last 16, Thai rising star Kantaphon Wangcharoen pushed former top-ranked Viktor Axelsen all the way during their 56-minute encounter but the third-ranked Dane proved too strong in the decisive game, winning their match-up 21-14, 15-21, 21-12.
Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai continued to fly the flag for Thailand in the women's doubles event, edging past China's Dong Wenjing and Feng Xueying 21-14, 21-23, 21-10. They will play another Chinese pair, Liu Xuanxuan and Xia Yuting, in the last eight today.
Third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai also progressed, with a 21-16, 21-14 victory over Ou Xuanyi and Feng Xueying of China in the mixed doubles event. They will play Indian duo of Jerry Pranaav Chopra and N Sikki Reddy in the quarters.
