“I text her everyday,” laughed Jia Yi Fan when asked if she missed Chen Qing Chen, her women’s doubles ally of 10 years with whom she won the Olympic gold just a fortnight ago.

Jia is a group of established doubles stars appearing with new partners at the DAIHATSU Japan Open 2024, the first HSBC BWF World Tour tournament post-Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Playing alongside Li Wen Mei in Yokohama, Jia has advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Chinese Taipei combos.

“We are starting from zero,” said the 27-year-old after defeating Teng Chun Hsun/Yang Chu Yun 21-18 14-21 21-16 on Thursday. “After the Olympics, Li and I didn’t have much time (to practice) so we didn’t try anything new. We just want to see how we can work well together. For now, we aim to give our best and enjoy each match.”

Of the new pairs that started in Japan, three are in the last eight stage. That includes Indonesian tandems Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin, who’ve swapped partners for the next chapter of their young careers following an unsuccessful attempt at making Paris 2024.

Carnando is already setting his sights on the next Summer Games.

“It’s still very early but our target is to qualify for Los Angeles 2028,” said the 23-year-old who won the World Junior Championships in 2019 with Marthin. “We still want to give our best in Japan, who knows we could be champions here!”

“We are encouraged by our performances so far,” added Maulana. “I’d been with Fikri for six years so this feels fresh, it’s a good way to keep us motivated.”

At the conclusion of their 21-16 21-12 win over twins Lee Fang-Chih/Lee Fang-Jen, Fikri sang from the same hymn sheet.

“Maybe this is the right way forward. We trust the coaches know best,” he said.

→ Results (Day 3)

→ Order of play (Quarterfinals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“Because of my recent record against her, I came into the match with the mindset I was the challenger. I told myself the opponent’s not better than me and I was determined to stop the streak.” – Aya Ohori on ending a three-match losing run to Kim Ga Eun

“We can say we are not as fit as we were at the Olympics, but we are trying our best to get back that same momentum and rhythm.” – Thinaah Muralitharan

“Gives me a lot of positive feelings. But I need to continue, I only evaluate myself after the tournament. For now, I will try to keep this level, or be even better in my upcoming match.” – Alex Lanier upon qualifying for the quarterfinals at his debut Super 750

“Maybe I have good luck in Japan. I haven’t had good results in the past two years so I hope this tournament is good for me. I will do my best in in the next round.” – Kantaphon Wangcharoen, whose last Super 750 quarterfinal appearance was at the same tournament in 2022