HONG KONG, Dec 19: Thai number one Paradorn Srichaphan squeezed past Taiwan’s Cheng Wei-jen 6-4, 6-4 to take his place in the quarter-finals of the $60,000 Asian Championships here Wednesday.

The 22-year-old battled hardest in an untidy contest littered with unforced errors as both players struggled to adjust to chilly conditions.

Korean top seed and title favourite Lee Hyung-taik joined him in the quarter-final with an impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory over awkward Chinese left-hander Wang Yu.

Both players are eyeing the $4,000 first prize and a wildcard into January’s Australian Open — on offer to the men and women’s singles champion.

In the women’s singles, the top seeded Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia fought back from a set down to beat Hong Kong’s Tong Ka-po 0-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Japan’s second seeded Soari Obata came off best in a battle between left handers, defeating Korean Choi Jin-young 6-4,6-4.

Chinese star Liu Nan Nan upset sixth seeded Korean Choi Young-ja 6-3, 6-3.

Wednesday’s second round results (x denotes seed):

Men’s singles:

Lee Hyung-taik (Kor x1) bt Wang Yu (Chn) 6-3, 6-1; Takahiro Terachi (Jpn x6) bt Simon Shen (Tpe) 6-2, 6-2; Takao Suzuki (Jpn x5) bt Peter Handoyo (Ina) 6-2, 6-2; Wang Yeu-tzuoo (Tpe) bt Chung Hee-seok (Kor) 6-2, 6-2; Yoon Yong-Il (Kor x7) bt John Hui (Hkg) 6-2, 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha x2) bt Cheng Wei-jen (Tpe) 6-4, 6-4; Vadim Kutsenko (Uzb x4) bt Hiroki Kondo (Jpn) 3-6, 6-0, 6-3; Suwandi (Ina x8) bt Lu Yen Hsun (Tpe) 6-4, 6-2.

Women’s singles:

Wynne Prakusya (Ina x1) bt Tong Ka-po (Hkg) 0-6, 7-5, 7-5; Hsieh Su-wei (Tpe x5) bt Wukirasih Sawondari (Ina) 6-4, 6-1; Liu Nan Nan (Chn) bt Choi Young-ja (Kpr x6) 6-3, 6-3; Rika Fujiwara (Jpn x4) bt Li Ting (Chn) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Weng Tzu-ting (Tpe) bt Jeon Mi-ra (Kor) 6-0, 6-3; Haruka Inoue (Jpn x8) bt Khoo Chin-bee (Mas) 6-3, 6-1; Cho Yoon-jeong (Kor x3) bt Chuang Chia-jung (Tpe) 6-4, 7-5; Soari Obata (Jpn x2) bt Choi Jin-young (Kor) 6-4, 6-4.

Tuesday’s results:

Men’s singles

Chung Hee-Seok (Kor) bt Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb x3) 6-4, 6-2; Takahiro Terachi (Jpn x6) bt Yu Hiu-Tung (Hkg) 6-1, 6-4; Simon Shen (Tpe) bt Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) 7-6 (7/0), 6-0; John Hui (Hkg) bt Johnny Arcilla (Phi) 6-0, 6-2.—AFP