The Japan Open quarterfinals had several European contenders eyeing their spot in the last four. While the first matches of the day brought an end to some of the European players' runs, there are still hopes.

It was not the day for third seeds Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Bøje, whose impressive runs this year came to a halt today against Malaysia's Jimmy Wong/Cheng Su Yin. The Danish pair were unable to deliver and were defeated in straight games, 17-21 17-21.

The Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva are also out of the tournament after facing one of the toughest pairs possible. Taking on world number two pair Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian, the Stoevas were outplayed by the Chinese duo in a 12-21 12-21 defeat.

In men's singles, Anders Antonsen had to face home favourite Koki Watanabe. Although the Dane leads their head-to-head, Watanabe had won their most recent clash at the All England earlier this year, and once again proved how strong he can be. The Japanese player shone in front of the home crowd and controlled the match to claim a 21-13 21-17 win.

But there are still Europeans in the run. Christo Popov is facing a world-class opponent, Shi Yu Qi, in what promises to be a great match. England's Ben Lane/Sean Vendy take on  the vry powerful Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.

Both matches will be a tough challenge for our European contenders but they will give it their all to fight for their spot in the semifinals.