by Wade Townsend

The Bangkok crowd had to cheer about  today as team Thailand had close encounters and solid wins in the opening day of the Women’s Singles. There was a narrow loss for Orowan Paranang, who put up a strong fight against second seed Hitomi Sato, losing in six games 4-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8,4-11,9-11. It was a notable performance against Sato who recently stood victorious at the Belarus Open. Paranang’s teammates had simpler draws, as Nanthana Komwong defeated Mouma Das and Suthasin Awettabut accounted for Zhu Chengzhu ensuring Thailand is well represented on day two in the Women’s Singles.

Top seed Doo Hoi Kem (HKG) cruised in to the last 16 in empathic fashion, winning 11-3, 11-2, 11-6, 11-1 against Cathareeya Poungsri (THA). However, she will be Hong Kong’s only representative on day two in the Women’s Singles, with her teammates unable to progress beyond the first round.

All eyes will be on qualifier Kim Seoyeon (KOR) as she dispatched of ninth seed and Europe’s sole representative Britt Eerland (NED) 11-6, 11-5, 111-1, 11-3. Kim has made her way from bottom seed of her group in the qualification stage and is now looking like a real threat to the top players remaining in the draw.

In the later half of the day Japan dominated the Under 21 Women’s Singles. The only scare came in the quarter-final when Minami Ando survived a 2-1 deficit against Lin Po-Hsuan (TPE) to take the match in the deciding game. Afterwards it was smooth sailing as both Ando and Saki Shibata secured their places in the final, ensuring gold and silver for Japan.

Women’s matches continue tomorrow at 10:00 (GMT+7) local time. The full schedule of tomorrow’s matches can be found here.