Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai are the only Thais remaining in contention at the US$1.5 million BWF World Tour Finals 2019 after Ratchanok Intanon bowed out following her second successive defeat in Guangzhou, China, on Friday.
Dechapol and Sapsiree lost their last Group A match to arch-rivals Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China but were already guaranteed of a place in the last four following two victories in their earlier matches.
Wang and Huang kept their perfect record at the season-ending tournament in Guangzhou intact, winning their third straight match 21-14, 22-20.
Both pairs advanced to the semi-finals but the draw for the last four was to be made later last night after completion of all the final group matches.
Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino qualified as Group A champions after winning their third straight match, beating Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 21-14, 21-12.
They were joined by China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, who overcame Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-8, 15-21, 22-20.
It was a close call for the Chinese duo, who were in a must-win situation. They started off well enough, taking the opening game quickly, but Jordan and Oktavianti found their rhythm and it was neck-and-neck in the third.
When they blew two match points -- Zheng and Huang misjudged the shuttle at the same spot on consecutive points -- the Indonesians suddenly had the momentum, but Huang stepped up as she had done on so many occasions previously, and found the winner at the net. A final mishit from Jordan gave the Chinese the win they were looking for.
Ratchanok exited the tournament after a disappointing defeat to Japanese rival Nozomi Okuhara in the final women's singles Group B match.
The Thai world No.5, who, after a tough battle against Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan a day earlier, was unable to handle the pace of the Japanese and went down 21-14, 21-12 in 40 minutes.
The victory sent Okuhara, who kept a clean slate in the group with her third straight win, into the last four along with Tai who eased past another Thai hope Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-14, 21-9.
China's Chen Yufei topped Group A after winning her third straight match, cruising past Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-14, 21-10 in just 29 minutes. But both players qualified for the last four.
World champion Pusarla Sindhu of India signed off from the World Tour Finals with a 21-19, 21-19 win over He Bingjiao of China in the dead rubber in Group A.
Thai duo Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai ended their campaign without a win after losing to Lee So-Hee and Shin Seung-Chan of South Korea 20-22, 21-23 in their final women's doubles Group B match on Friday.
Meanwhile China heaved a sigh of relief as Chen Long clinched a last-gasp semi-final place on Friday.
Facing a must-win situation, Chen defeated Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan in his final group match to secure his last-four place from men's singles Group B.
Chen, who went down in straight games to Anthony Ginting on Friday, expertly handled Chou's wares to deny him in a close second game finish, 21-15 21-19.
In the men's doubles event, Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin, who are playing in their first World Tour Finals as a pair, topped Group B after beating world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-18, 21-18. bangkok post/bwfworldtourfinals.com