The third seed in the women’s singles beat Japan’s Hitomi Sato, ranked 16 in this tournament, in four straight games at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena 11-2, 11-6, 11-5, 11-3.

Success also ensued for the number one seed, China’s Ding Ning, who also won this competition last year.

The reigning Olympic and world champion dispatched Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching, the number 12 seed, in four straight games 14-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6.

Kasumi Ishikawa, the number two seed, also progressed but she was taken to the full seven games by South Korea’s Suh Hyowon.

Undeterred by the resilience of her opponent, Ishikawa won 8-11, 2-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5.

Meanwhile, in the few men’s singles round of 16 matches that took place today China’s Ma Long reached the quarter-finals.

The world number one and Rio 2016 Olympic champion was in ominous form as he defeated his compatriot Li Ping.

Li actually took the opening game to stun the onlooking crowd but Ma’s quality shone through in the end as he won 4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8.

Elsewhere in the men’s singles draw, Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting ousted Kenta Matsudaira of Japan to reach the last eight.

Currently ranked seventh in the world, Wong prevailed in a seven game thriller.

Wong found himself two games down after Matsudaira dominated the opening exchanges 11-6, 14-12.

The Hong Kong player instantly replied, however, as he claimed the lead by winning the next three games 11-8, 13-11, 11-9.

Wong failed to close out the match in the sixth game as Matsudaira took it to a decider by winning it 16-14.

It would be Wong that claimed the spoils, however, as he secured his place in the next round by winning the decisive seventh game 11-8.

In the men’s doubles competition today, there was one huge upset and almost a second.

Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Tang Pang, the number six seeds, beat Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan and Huang Sheng-Sheng, seeded fourth, in a seven game thriller, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 7-11, 11-6.

South Korea’s Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu, the second seeds, were almost eliminated by Japan’s Koki Niwa and Maharu Yoshimura, but scraped through to the next round.

Youngsik and Sangsu’s true quality shone through after being stretched to the very limit to win 11-6, 4-11, 10-12, 16-14, 14-12, 9-11, 16-14.

Action continues tomorrow with round of 16 and quarter final action.