Tanarattha/Varapatsorn (Thailand 1) – who could not go the distance at the last week's Khanom meet in Nakhon Si Thammarat following their bitter loss to Nicole Laird/Mariafe Artacho (Australia 1) in the semi-final clash – stand a good chance of avenging that disappointment when they powered their way to the semi-finals on Tuesday, where they will challenge the same Australian rivals.
Tanarattha and Varapatsorn performed superbly to beat Indians Maheshwari Jayaraman/Venkata Karri Veera in effortless straight sets 2-0 (21-6, 21-7) in 28 minutes on Tuesday. The well-trained Thais went on to beat Usa Tenpaksee/Yupa Phokongploy (Thailand 3) 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-10) in an all-Thai affair.
Laird/Artacho (Australia 1) outclassed Ayumi Kusano/Fujii Sakurako (Japan 2) 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) before trouncing another Japanese side, Takemi Nishibori/Mizoe Sayaka (Japan 1) 2-1 (21-17, 21-15) in their second clash.
As Australia 1 set up the first semi-final match against Thailand 1, the other semis see Vanuatu's Elwin Miller/Latika Henriette, winners at the last week's Khanom meet, go up against Juliana Dhita/Dini Yashita Utami Putu (Indonesia 1).
The Vanuatu tandem, who are competing in Thailand for the first time, have yet to lose a set to their respective rivals at the Samila meet. The formidable Miller/Henriette on Tuesday defeated Thanh Loan Ngo Vo/Tran Thi Trong (Vietnam 1) in straight sets 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) before beating Rumpaipruet Numwong/Khanittha Hongpak 2-0 (21-18, 21-5) of Thailand 2.
Dhita/Utami Putu (Indonesia 1) were also on impressive form. They displayed an improved performance after a despairing performance at last week's Khanom meet. Brushing off Julia Tilley/Shaunna Polley (New Zealand 1) 2-0 (21-18, 21-10), the Indonesians stunned Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova (Kazakhstan 1) in a hard-fought three-setter 2-1 (17-21, 22-20, 15-11).
In Wednesday's quarter-finals, the Qataris will go up against Vladislav Pustynnikov/Sergey Bogatu (Kazakhstan 2).
The highly-experienced Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko (Kazakhstan 1), silver medallists at the Khanom meet last week, beat two home teams. They first defeated Kittipat Yungtin/Chutipong Sukarayotin (Thailand 2) 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) before sinking Thai hearts by beating Sittichai Sangkhachot/Prathip Sukto of Thailand 1 in a gruelling three-set clash 2-1 (21-13, 13-21, 15-9) in 51 minutes.
In the other quarterfinal encounters on Wednesday, Dyachenko/Sidorenko (Kazakhstan 1) will take on Roufi Rahman/Salemiinjehboroun Bahman (Iran 2), while Farrokhi/Parviz (Iran 1) challenge Joshua Court/Damien Schumann (Australia 2) and Ageda Yuya/Yoshiumi Hasegawa (Japan 1) will play Ben O'Dea/Thomas Hartles (New Zealand 1).
