Ratchanok Intanon advanced to the last 16 of the season-opening BWF Malaysia Open 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
The Thai seventh seed took 35 minutes to defeat Malvika Bansod of India 21-11, 21-11 to reach the second round of the US$1,450,000 (approx 46,400,000 baht) World Tour Super 1000 event.
Ratchanok will next play Mia Blichfeldt after the Danish player edged past Natsuki Nidaira of Japan 21-15, 23-21, 22-20.
Women's doubles pair Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai put on a battling display to upset eighth seeds Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam of Hong Kong 21-19, 11-21, 21-16.
Next up for the Thai duo is a matchup against Koreans Jeong Na-Eun and Lee Yeon-Woo.
Meanwhile, Supanida Katethong and Busanan Ongbamrungphan were to face off in an all-Thai first round clash, while Pitchamon Opatniputh was to face fourth seed Chen Yufei of China later on Tuesday.
Mixed doubles defending champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran will start their title defence on Wednesday. The third seeds will play Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Taiwan.
Another mixed pair Phunawat Horbanluekit and Benyapa Aimsaard will take on Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh of India.
Kunlavut's goal
Men's singles second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn faces Wang Tzu Wei of Taiwan in his opener on Wednesday.
In the buildup to the tournament, Olympic silver medallist Kunlavut told the media his goal for 2026 is to finally win a Super 1000 title.
The 24-year-old has won a total of seven World Tour titles, including two Super 750 events at the 2023 India Open and the 2025 Singapore Open, but has yet to win a top-tier Super 1000.
There are four Super 1000 tournaments in a season, including the Malaysia Open, the All England Open in March, the Indonesia Open in June and the China Open in July.
In other results on Tuesday, women's top seed An Se-young of South Korea overcame Michelle Li of Canada 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 and Nozomi Okuhara of Japan beat Pai Yu-po of Taiwan 21-12, 21-14.