Top seed next for Ratchanok
Defending champion Ratchanok Intanon outclassed Chloe Birch of Great Britain to set up a Malaysian Masters quarter-final showdown on Friday with world No 1 Tai Tsu Ying of Taiwan.
The world No 6 took just 26 minutes to go through 21-12 21-10 and earn her 22nd tilt at the top seed.
Ratchanok leads their head-to-head record 12-10 – their latest encounter, at last year’s Asian Games, went to the Thai 21-18 21-18.
On the downside, the Thai men’s No 1 Kantaphon Wancharoen was sent packing in round two, losing to fourth-seeded Son Wan Ho of South Korea 11-21 21-12 21-12.
