ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: SUN JUN, LEE JOO HYUN TOP SINGLES SEEDS

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS REPORT is presented by badminton world champions YANG YANG (1987 and 1989) and ZHAO JIAN HUA (1991) and by YANG YANG BADMINTON PRODUCTS **

September 2, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Sun Jun of China, the newly crowned badminton World Cup men's singles champion and world-ranked at number three, has been named the top seed at the Asian Badminton Confederation championships that starts tomorrow in Kuala Lumpur. Ardy Wiranata of Indonesia, winner of the Indonesian Open held last month and ranked at number eight in the world, is the second seed.

Dong Jiong of China, the top-ranked player, will be playing in the U.S. Open that starts on September 9 near Los Angeles, California. Because of the difficulties involved in playing in Malaysia one week and then rushing to play in America the next week, the Chinese badminton association have split their top two players with Sun being entered in Kuala Lumpur and Dong in California.

Joko Suprianto of Indonesia, the second-ranked player, has been named to the Indonesian team that will play in the 19th South East Asian Games being held in Jakarta in late September. He and all the members of the Indonesian team to the Olympic-style sportsfest like Heryanto Arbi, Indra Wijaya, Susi Susanti, Mia Audina, Chandra Wijaya, Budiarto Sigit, Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky have been ordered by the Indonesian Olympic Committee to stay in training camp in Cipayung, Indonesia.

Rashid Sidek, Malaysia's best men's singles player, is recovering from an injury but is expected to see action at the South East Asian Games, while Korea's best, Park Sung Woo, is reported to have retired from international competition and to have taken up coaching in Japan.

With the top women's singles players entered for the U.S. Open (Ye Zhaoying, Gong Zhichao, Ra Kyung Min and Kim Ji Hyun) or staying in training camp (Susi Susanti and Mia Audina), Lee Joo Hyun of Korea is the highest rated player listed for the Asian championships. China's Yao Yan is seeded second.

Like the singles events, the top names in the three doubles disciplines are also either slated for the U.S. Open or in training camp for the South East Asian Games or recovering from injury (Yap Kim Hock of Malaysia, Kang Kyung Jin of Korea).

Of those entered in the doubles events, Denny Kantono and Antonius Budi Iriantho of Indonesia have been named the top seeds in men's doubles, while Huang Nanyan and Liu Zhong are the number one picks in women's doubles.

Indonesia's Sandiarto and Finarsih lead the entries in mixed doubles followed by teammates Agung and Anastasia.

Following are the rest of the seedings:

Men's Singles:
3. Hermawan Susanto (Indonesia), 4. Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia), 5. Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia), 6. George Rimarodi (Indonesia), 7. Tam Kai Chuen (Hong Kong), 8. Hendrawan (Indonesia), 9. Lin Liwen (China), 10. Wong Choong Hann (Malaysia), 11. Jason Wong (Malaysia), 12. Ismail Samad (Malaysia), 13. Roslin Hashim (Malaysia), 14. Tam Lok Tin (Hong Kong), 15. Kim Hyung Joon (Korea), 16. Takuya Takehana (Japan)

Women's Singles:
3. Yasuko Mizui (Japan), 4. Zeng Yaqiong (China), 5. Lidya Djaelawidjaya (Indonesia), 6. Ellen Engelina (Indonesia), 7. Lee Kyung Won (Korea), 8. Huang Chia Chi (Taipei)

Men's Doubles:
2. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah (Malaysia), 3. Hermono-Hian Eng (Indonesia), 4. Efraim Davis-Heryanto Halim (Indonesia), 5. Shinji Ohta-Takuya Takehana (Japan), 6. Huang Shin Chung-Chien Yuh Sun (Taipei), 7. Khunakorn Sudhisodhi- Kitipon Kitikul (Thailand), 8. Cheah Soon Kit-Pang Cheh Chang (Malaysia)

Women's Doubles:
2. Qiang Hong-Liu Lu (China), 3. Etty Tantri-Cynthia Tuwankotta (Indonesia), 4. Chen Li Chin-Tsai Hui Min (Taipei)

Mixed Doubles:
3. Ma Che Kong-Tung Chau Man (Hong Kong), 4. Zhang Jun-Liu Lu (China), 5. Cheng Rui-Huang Nanyang (China), 6. Park Tae Sang-Park So Yun (Korea), 7. Yang Ming-Qiang Hong (China), 8. Tam Kai Chuen-Jie Elyni (Hong Kong)

(mig)