On a day which did not roll kindly for the Indians, second seeded Shubajit Saha went down to Kamaguchi Tsutomu of Japan in the group stage. That apart, favourites had an easy outing.

In the other semifinals, China's Chen Qing and Zhang Fang faced stiff challenge from the Korean duo of Moon Hyun Jung and Kim Kyung Ha before prevailing 21-17, 23-25, 21-9.

Only three Indians could make it to the pre-quarterfinals. National senior and junior champion Paulomi Ghatak, Mouma Das and Sukantu Das were the ones who held the Indian flag flying.

In a racy encounter, Saha held a match point but as he was to admit later, he was beaten by a superior opponent. Not much separated the two as far as the percentage of the winners but Saha wasdistinctly uncomfortable in reading the Japanese serve. In the end, that really mattered.

Poulomi and Mouma get a bye into the quarterfinals, being in the top four seeded players.

The following have qualified for the next stage

Boys: Ryu Seung Min (Korea), Kawaguchi Tsutomu (Japan), Yung To Long (Hkg), Tang Peng (Chn), Lee Sun Ho (Kor), Sakamoto Ryusuke (Japan), Kim Jung Hoon (Kor), Wang Hao (Chn), Hai Shuai (Chn), Yoon Jae Young (Kor), Wen Chih-Hsuan (Tpe), Hara Masahiko (Jpn), Sukantu Das (India), Kishikawa Issei (Jpn).

Girls: Fujinumaai (Jpn), Mouma Das (India), Poulomi Ghatak (India), Li Qang Bing (Chn), Lee Hynag Mi (Korea), Fuji Hirokd (Jpn), Lee Hsin Ching (Tpe), Zhang Fang (Chn), Moon Hyun Jung (Kor), Hiura Reiko (Jpn), Cheng Qing (Chn), Panli Chun (Tpe).