Thursday

Andrew Smith put up a gritty display before losing to fourth seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia at the Yonex Japan Open today.

Smith went down in the second round of the men's singles 21-17 21-18 against the former world and Olympic champion.

But he put up a good showing, pulling back from 11-7 down to trail by just one point at 17-16 in the first game.

In the second he trailed 17-13 but pulled himself right back into contention to lead 18-17 before Taufik pulled away to win on his first match point.

Smith will now focus his attention on Team England's two internationals with Japan at the University of Bath and Loughborough University on Friday October 16 and Saturday October 17 respectively.

Despite his second round defeat Smith has climbed back into the world's top 30 at No 28 in today's new ranking list. Team-mate Rajiv Ouseph is up to No 22 after reaching the last 16 in China last week.

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Wednesday

Andrew Smith today reached the second round of a Super Series tournament for the second week in a row by moving smoothly into the last 16 at the Yonex Japan Open.

The Hampshire player, who is No 33 in the world rankings, knocked out Malaysian Wee Chung Pei 21-13 21-14 to earn a second-round clash with Indonesia's former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, the fourth seed.

Smith was never behind in either game and was able to dominate his opponent.

But English National champion and world No 25 Rajiv Ouseph, who reached the second round in the Li Ning China Masters last week, fell at the first hurdle in Tokyo.

Ouseph went down in straight games to Denmark's world No 3 Peter Gade 21-12 21-16, losing five points in a row at the end of the match after being 16-16 in the second game.