The round of 32 consisted of sixteen matches, with eight held each day. After Liu Qing finished the opening match, Ash took the field for the second. Although he did not achieve a commanding 5–0 score like Liu Qing, he fought steadily and secured a place in the top sixteen when Pikachu defeated his opponent's Sandslash with Iron Tail. Paul's match followed, and he advanced with Torterra. The first match on the second day belonged to Tetsuya, a friend of Ash's. In Liu Qing's view, Tetsuya struck a balance between offense and defense. He ultimately advanced when Meowth defeated his opponent's Rhydon with Iron Tail.
Han Ye's match was the last of the round of 32, and his first Pokémon was Umbreon. His opponent had apparently studied him beforehand and sent out the Fighting-type Machamp. While Fighting-type moves were indeed effective against the Dark-type Umbreon, his opponent had failed to account for Han Ye's own abilities. When Machamp attacked with a Fighting-type move, Umbreon first evaded it with Double Team, then poisoned Machamp with Toxic before defeating it with a single Quick Attack. His opponent's second Pokémon, Beautifly, fell to the same strategy. Only his third Pokémon, the Steel-type Mawile, broke that pattern. Han Ye, however, switched to Houndoom, the other of the two Pokémon he had used in the Preliminary Round, and defeated Mawile with Flamethrower after a brief battle.
After the five-minute intermission, his opponent's fourth Pokémon was Swampert, but Houndoom used Roar to force it out and bring in Breloom. Within a few exchanges, Flamethrower struck Breloom and knocked it out. For his fifth Pokémon, his opponent knew that sending Swampert back out would only result in another forced switch, so he chose Zangoose instead, using its fast attacks to engage Houndoom in close combat. In the