U.S. OPEN - CHINA'S HUANG AND JIANG UPSET MAINAKY AND SUBAGJA August 12, 1995 - At the U.S. Open being held in Atlanta, Georgia, the Chinese men's doubles team of Huang Zhanzhong and Jiang Xin upset world champions Rexy Mainaky and Rexy Subagja of Indonesia in semifinal action. Huang and Jiang are the third seeds in the tournament while the Indonesian pair are the top seeds. Mainaky and Subagja raced off to an easy first game victory at 15-5 as the Chinese duo could not cope with the heavy Indonesian smash attack and the quickness of their opponents at net and midcourt. In the second game, Huang and Jiang were able to adjust to the speed of the Indonesian smashes and were also able to unleash heavy smash attacks of their own, specially off the racket of the lanky Jiang. The Chinese pair took the second game 15-10. In the tightly fought decider, the Chinese were able to maintain their smash defense and their smash attack as the world champions tried to step up the pace. Jiang's court coverage and occasional deceptive cross-court drives and flat blocks was particularly effective in containing Mainaky and Subagja. Huang and Jiang won the third game, 15-13. In the other men's doubles semifinal, Indonesians Rudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto outlasted compatriots Antonius and Denny Kantono in a one-hour and forty-five minute slambang smash and block battle between two evenly matched teams. Gunawan and Suprianto dropped the first game to Antonius and Kantono, 12-15 then rebounded to take the second 15-9. The third game went to a five-point setting at 13-all before Gunawan and Suprianto put together a string of points to win at 18-14. In women's doubles, the third-seeded Korean entry of Kim Mee Hyang and Kim Shin Young defeated the second-seeds from China, Ge Fei and Gu Jun, in a minor upset. The scoreline was 15-7, 15-10. In the other women's doubles semifinal, world champions and top seeds Gil Youngah and Jang Hyeock had a troubled first game against the Indonesian duo of Finarsih and Lily Tampi, losing it at 9-15. The world champions battled back in the second game, winning it at 15-4, and then won the match as they breezed thru the third game, 15-5. In men's singles, second-seeded Hermawan Susanto of Indonesia beat the unseeded but world-ranked Ahn Jaechamg of Korea primarily with crosscourt sliced and reverse-sliced dropshots and smashes, 15-5 15-8. Dong Jiong of China, also unseeded but world-ranked, defeated Jeroen Van Dijk of the Netherlands 15-0, 15-9 to qualify for the men's singles final. Dong Jiong had upset the topseeded Ardy Wiranata in the quarterfinals 15-7 15-5. In ladies' singles, world champion and second seed Ye Zhaoying of China defeated Kim Jihyun of Korea, 11-5 9-12 11-3. Kim had upset the fourth- seeded Mia Audina of Indonesia in the quarterfinals, 6-11 11-4 11-8. The topseed Bang Soohyun of Korea bested compatriot Lee Joohyun, 11-4 11-6 to set up a Korea-China final. In the mixed doubles, traditionally a European forte, Asian teams defeated their counterparts from England and Sweden to shut the Western countries out of the finals. The tricky Heryanto Trikus and his partner, Minarti Timur, both of Indonesia, defeated Peter Axelsson and Catrine Bengtsson of Sweden, 15-9 15-4. Bengtsson is half of the 1993 world champion pair, having won that title with Thomas Lund of Sweden. Koreans Kim Dongmoon and Gil Youngah bested the English pair of Simon Archer and Julie Bradbury, 15-7 17-14. The U.S. Open is a two-star event in the badminton international Grand Prix circuit. This year, the U.S. Open is also serving as the dry-run or test tournament for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It is also a five-star part of the year-long process for badminton players to qualify for the 192 spots in the badminton competition at the 1996 Olympic Games. U.S. OPEN - YE ZHAOYING REIGNS SUPREME IN LADIES' SINGLES August 13, 1995 - At the U.S. Open badminton tournament being contested in Atlanta, Georgia, ladies' singles world champion and world number three Ye Zhaoying of China confirmed her newly rediscovered supremacy by defeating the world number two from Korea, Bang Soohyun, 12-10 3-11 11-9. In the first game, Bang raced to a quick lead as Ye's shots were erratic. The Chinese champion bore down as Bang gained the commanding 9th point in the 11-point ladies' singles game and got her deceptive forehand overhead shots and her net tumblers working. She caught Bang at 9-all to force the off-balance Bang to a three-point setting and then to defeat the Korean lady 12-10. In the second game, Bang went to work on the tired Ye, who seemed exhausted from her come-from-behind efforts in the first game. Bang took the second game 11-3. In the third game, Bang played a clearing and defensive game, testing Ye's backhand and tossing in the occasional smash and fast drive. Ye countered with backhand drops and clears and managed at times to play her stronger shots - the forehand overhead and the net tumblers. The two exchanged leads until Ye strung several points together to pass Bang and win at 11-9. The win in the five-star tournament puts Ye in a strong position to improve her number three world ranking. The world number one, Susi Susanti of Indonesia, did not enter the tournament. In an entertaining mixed doubles final, Kim Dongmoon and Gil Youngah of Korea bested the Indonesian pair of Heryanto Trikus and Minarti Timur 15-7 10-15 15-13. The steady play of the Koreans overcame the deceptive and flashy forehand overheads and drives from tricky Trikus. While drawing oohs and ahs from the crowd for his incredible right-to-left angled shots and his hesitation jump drops and smashes, Trikus made as many errors as he scored points. The unorthodox tactics of the Indonesian pair which often had Timur in the rear court and Trikus in the front court also backfired as the Koreans frequently put the shuttle on the floor after a Timur smash or clear from the rear court. In men's doubles, Rudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto of Indonesia defeated Huang Zhanzhong and Jiang Xin of China 15-3 15-10. The Chinese pair who had upset world number ones Rexy Mainaky and Rick Subagja of Indonesia in Saturday's semifinals could not put their game together against Gunawan and Suprianto in the first. The Chinese were so disorganized that they at times clashed rackets and at one point even jumped up to smash the same shuttle and collided in midair. In the second, the Chinese managed to play together in stretches but were a trifle too slow to match the Indonesians. In men's singles, Hermawan Susanto of Indonesia took the measure of Dong Jiong of China 15-10 15-3. The first game was played evenly at the start as Susanto's sliced strokes and Dong's hesitation crosscourt jump smashes both scored points. As the game progressed, Susanto seemed to have a better read of Dong's shots as well as better angles on his own, managing to put the shuttle on the floor just out of Dong's reach. In the second, Susanto was in control, allowing Dong only three points to his fifteen. In an all-Korean ladies' doubles finals, world champions Gil Youngah and Jang Hyeock bested Kim Meehyang and Kim Shinyoung 15-9 15-4. The U.S. Open is a two-star event in the badminton international Grand Prix circuit. This year, the U.S. Open is also serving as the dry-run or test tournament for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It is also a five-star part of the year-long process for badminton players to qualify for the 192 spots in the badminton competition at the 1996 Olympic Games.