Pornpawee Chochuwong and mixed doubles stars Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai won their opening matches at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
The other Thais -- Busanan Ongbamrungphan, Kunlavut Vitidsarn and women's doubles pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai -- all failed to pick up victories on the first day of the US$1.5 million tournament.
Pornpawee, who reached the semi-finals of the 2020 Finals in January, defeated Germany's Yvonne Li 21-18, 21-16 in the women's singles Group A match while Busanan lost to South Korean An Se-Young 21-16, 21-5 in Group B.
Pornpawee faces Denmark's Line Christophersen in the second match and Busanan plays Singapore's Yeo Jia Min today. Both Christophersen and Yeo lost their openers.
Defending champions Dechapol and Sapsiree, who are looking to win their fourth straight tournament and complete a Bali hat-trick, overcame home stars Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti 21-14, 10-21, 21-11 in their Group B opener.
Meanwhile, Finals debutant Kunlavut lost to All England Open champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 15-21, 16-21 in the men's singles Group B match. He faces another tough match against India's Srikanth Kidambi today.
Jongkolphan and Rawinda went down to home hopes Greysia Polii and Apriyani Raharu 15-21, 12-21 in Group A clash. They need to beat Malaysia's Tan Pearly and Thinaah Muralitharan today to keep their hopes alive.
Only eight players and pairs from each of the five disciplines -- men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles -- are participating in the season finale.
The top two players and teams from each group advance to the semi-finals.
The event ends on Sunday.