USA badminton enjoyed a breakthrough Thursday at the DAIHATSU Japan Open 2026, as two American doubles pairs reached the quarterfinals of an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 event for the first time. Allison Lee and Francesca Corbett Lam delivered the headline result by overturning a huge deficit to beat third seeds and world No.3 Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee, before Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith followed with a straight-games win over world No.16 Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard.
The double success mattered not just for the upsets themselves, but for what it represented: two separate USA pairs pushing through to the last eight on the same day at one of the tour’s top tiers, turning a single standout result into a wider statement of progress.
Lam and Lee stun world No.3 after 1-9 hole
Lam and Lee’s comeback against Baek/Lee was built from a difficult start that quickly became a mountain to climb. The Americans dropped the opening game 9-21, and then fell behind 1-9 in the second. From there, they began to chip away at the deficit, eventually drawing level at 12-12 and growing into the contest as the pressure shifted onto the favourites.
After forcing the match into a decider by taking the second game 21-18, the momentum swung decisively. The third game was described as “all one-way traffic”, with Baek and Lee unable to contain the surge from the world No.21 pair. Lam and Lee closed out the upset 9-21 21-18 21-12 to book their place in the quarterfinals.
Lam pointed to the mindset change that helped them recover from the early deficit. “We didn’t have a good start,” she said. “And then, in the second, we were down 9-1, and I just told Allison to just fight, just one point at a time. And then slowly, point after point we kept getting our momentum. Honestly, it was pretty nerve-racking, it was really tough.”
Lee described the win as one of their biggest, and explained how their approach evolved as the match progressed. “It’s one of our biggest wins, it just feels very surreal,” she said. “We play these players all the time. So I think we just had to learn how to adapt. Honestly, coming into the match, we were a little bit overwhelmed. I mean they’re No.3, we’re like, we’re the underdogs and we just played safe and passive.”
As the Americans stayed in touch, Lee said belief grew through the rallies and the moments of pressure. “But then with point after point, we kept fighting, challenge after challenge, we challenged many shots. We thought we we can really do this; after that we just kept going, kept our focus, and I think that led to the win.”
Chen and Smith complete USA’s perfect finish
In the last match of the day, Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith ensured there was more good news for Team USA, knocking out Lundgaard/Vestergaard in straight games. The world No.17 pair won 21-15 21-12 in 35 minutes, shutting the door on opponents who had won the Malaysia Masters in June.
Smith said the result carried extra satisfaction after falling just short at the same stage previously. “Last year we were really close to the quarters here, so it feels good to get it this time. We play pretty well. They’ve been doing well this year,” Smith said.
Smith also highlighted the plan that helped them get through in two games. “We had a good strategy, because they like to come up and attack the net, so we just tried to play past them, so that worked in our favour,” he said.
Other notable results: top seed survives, French seeds fall
Elsewhere on the day, Pan Am hopes of another headline were checked as top seed Shi Yu Qi edged out a three-game win, 16-21 21-19 21-18. Yang acknowledged the qualities that made the difference late on, pointing to Shi’s ability to create attacking chances. “His front court ability to spin, get the lift and his attack is just world-class, he’s No.1 for a reason,” Yang said.
Yang also reflected on the tight finish, noting he had chances in the second game before the match swung. “I had chances to close it out, I was leading most of the second game, I had 19-17, but towards the end, once I started getting closer to 21, I was overthinking and got a bit nervous. I made a lot of easy mistakes,” he said.
There were also major upsets involving French seeds. One of the biggest saw sixth seeds Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue beaten 23-21 24-22 after their opponents trailed 5-11 in the second game. Another French exit followed as No.7 seed Alex Lanier went down 9-21 21-14 21-16. In contrast, Lanier’s compatriot Christo Popov recovered from losing the first game to Leong Jun Hao to win 16-21 21-11 21-17.
For USA, though, the story of the day was clear: two pairs, two quarterfinal places, and two upset wins that turned the Japan Open into a landmark moment at Super 750 level.
