National men's doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong stayed on track for a medal after an upset win over fourth seeds Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan of China in the final group match in the badminton competition at the Rio Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro yesterday.

The crack pair came from behind to send the Chinese aces packing in 16-21, 21-15 and 21-18 in 62 minutes in Group B. The feat saw them through to the knockout quarterfinal stage, which begins tomorrow.

The draw for the quarterfinals is expected today.

However, women's doubles Vivian Hoo Kah Mun-Woon Khe Wei face tough opponents in the last eight after ending up as runners-up in Group C, losing the final group match to third seeded Nitya Krishninda Maheswari-Greysia Polii in straight sets of 21-19, 21-19.

The Indonesian pair took 55 minutes to keep a clean slate in the three group matches to top the group.

The Malaysian pair, ranked world number 15th, won two matches in the group, against Heather Olver-Lauren Smith of Great Britain 21-17, 24-22 on Thursday, and Hong Kong pair Poon Lok Yan-Tse Ying Suet 21-15, 21-13 yesterday.

"The Indonesian pair is always difficult to handle...we were excited to gain quick points and made many errors in our haste," said Woon after the tie.

On her preferred quarterfinal opponents, she said fifth seeded South Korean pair Jung Kyung Eun-Shin Seung Chan, rather than world number one Matsutomo Misaki-Takahashi Ayaka of Japan.

"We are playing better by the day and hope for the best in the knockout stage," she said.

No match

Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Liu Ying also lost their final Group C match when the combination were no match to Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir who only took 27 minutes to win in 21-7, 21-8.

As for women's singles shuttler Tee Jing Yi, she opened her campaign in Group K with a straight sets win of 22-20, 21-15 against Kristina Gavnholt of the Czech Republic.

Hoping to get through the group match in her second Olympics appearance, Jing Yi needed 41 minutes for a winning start and will next face Japan’s AkaneYamaguchi today.

Having lost twice to the Japanese, in the 2015 Indonesian Open and 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Jing Yi has to win if she hopes to progress to the second round.

“I was nervous in the first game and made many errors. However, I tightened my play in the second and focused on my service to get the points.

"I am happy to win the opening match and will now focus on beating the Japanese player whom I have lost to in our previous encounters," she said.

If she gets past Yamaguchi, Jing Yi is likely to face Thailand’s world number four, Ratchanok Intanon in the second round on Monday.

- Bernama