Chong Wei enters Japan open quarter-final

The fifth seeded shuttler who is also defending champion, received stiff competition from Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia before securing a hard-fought 22-20 and 21-17 win in the second round match, said the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website;www.bwfworldsuperseries.com.

National men's doubles pair, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, on the other hand, pulled off a suprise after stunning the eight seed, Lee Jhe-Huei-Lee Yang of Taiwan; winning in 21-18 and 21-12.

Malaysia's challenge in the women's singles and mixed doubles event in the US$325,00 (RM1.364 million) tournament, fizzled out after the players were beaten by their respective opponents.

Soniia Cheah lost in straight-set 14-21 and 14-21 to the eight seed, Zhang Beiwen of the United States while Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai suffered a shock 6-21, 25-23 and 20-22 lossw to Takuro Hoki-Sayaka Hirota of Japan.

Former national player Lim Khim Wah and former Olympic champion, Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea were eliminated from the tournament after losing 18-21 and 19-21 to the fourth seed, Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.

Another former national player, Tan Boon Heong who teamed up with former Olympic champion, Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia also suffered a similar fate, losing 8-21 and 13-21 to the second seed, Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark.

Malaysia's interest in the women's doubles event ended yesterday after the only representative, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean lost in the opening round.