ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: INDONESIAN MEN, CHINESE LADIES DOMINATE

** 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 5, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Indonesia placed three of its men's singles entries into the semifinals of the Asian badminton championships being contested at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while China lorded it over the women's singles event with three of its players winning their quarterfinal matches today and booking their places in tomorrow's semifinals.

In the men's singles event, only the top-seeded Chinese player, Sun Jun, got past his Indonesian opponent in the quarterfinals. His win prevented an all-Indonesian affair in the semifinals.

Sun Jun had his first extended match of the tournament today against George Rimarcdi. Sun had to play three games against the Indonesian before he was assured of his semifinal berth.

The Chinese ace took the first game easily 15-6, but then coasted and lost his focus in the second. Rimarcdi took advantage of Sun's errors and loose play to win the second 15-8. Sun Jun then bore down in the decider and rolled to a 15-5 victory.

Second-seed Ardy Wiranata of Indonesia was also extended in his quarterfinal match with Lee Mou Chew of Taipei but prevailed 15-9, 14-18 and 15-12.

The third-seeded Hermawan Susanto, also of Indonesia, defeated his young teammate, Asian junior champion Taufik Hidayat, 15-9 and 15-7 in his section of the quarterfinal matchups. A third Indonesian, the eighth-seeded Hendrawan, also won his quarterfinal encounter. Hendrawan upset Malaysia's Ong Ewe Hock, the fourth seed.

Ong's play was terrible in the first game and he was no match against the strong attack from Hendrawan. The Indonesian took an early 7-0 lead and then coasted to a 15-3 opening game victory in about 20 minutes.

In the second, Ong was able to defend against Hendrawan's attack. He was more aggressive and managed to gain game point at 14-11. However, Hendrawan foiled Ong's attempts to clinch the set several times and pulled even at 14-all.

In the tiebreak, it was Hendrawan who marked the three points that he needed to post the victory.

In tomorrow's semifinals, Sun Jun will play Susanto, while Wiranata will battle Hendrawan.

In the women's singles event, only Indonesia's Lidya Djaelawidjaya, seeded fifth, survived the Chinese onslaught in the quarterfinals. Djaelawidjaya edged the fourth seed, Zeng Yaqiong of China, 7-11, 11-7 and 11-6 to stay in the running for the championship.

Chinese players eliminated their respective quarterfinal opponents to take the other three semifinal spots.

Second seed Yao Yan easily defeated Ellen Engelina of Indonesian 11-6 and 11-3 and unseeded teammate Yu Hua beat Huang Chia Chi of Taipei 11-0 and 11-4. Wu Huimin, also unseeded, disposed of Lee Kyung Won of Korea 11-7 and 11-4.

Yao will play teammate Wu in one semifinal match tomorrow, with Yu and Djaelawidjaya battling in the other.

The Chinese women were also dominant in the doubles event, taking three of the four semifinal spots.

Top-seeds Liu Zhong and Huang Nanyan defeated Indonesians Marissa Vita and Angelina 15-9 and 15-4, while second-seeds Liu Lu and Qian Hong eliminated the Malaysian pair of Ang Li Peng and Noorashikin Amin 15-6 and 15-5.

The fourth-seeded Taiwanese duo of Chen Li Chin and Tsai Hui Min defeated the Chinese pair of Yu Hua and Wu Huimin decisively 15-2 and 15-6.

Indonesia's Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta, the third seeds, took the remaining semifinal spot with their 15-10 and 15-11 win over Yasuko Mizui and Masako Sakamoto of Japan.

It will be Liu Zhong and Huang versus Chen and Tsai, and Liu Lu and Qian against Tantri and Tuwankotta in the women's doubles semifinals tomorrow.

In the men's doubles semifinals, top-seeds Antonius Budi Iriantho and Denny Kantono of Indonesia will play teammates Hermono and Eng Hian, while second seeds Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia will face off against compatriots Chew Chun Eng and Lee Chee Leong.

Antonius and Kantono booked their semifinal spot with a 15-7 and 15-7 win over China's Chen Wei and Xia Xuanze. Hermono and Eng Hian had the benefit of a walkover in their quarterfinal when Pang Cheh Chang of Malaysia was injured in an earlier mixed doubles match. Pang was partnered with stalwart Cheah Soon Kit in the men's doubles event.

In the other men's doubles quarterfinals, Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook beat Japan's Shinji Ohta and Takuya Takehana 15-9 and 15-10, while Lee Chee Leong and Chew Chun Eng upset Halim Heryanto and Efraim Da(h)vis of Indonesia, the fourth seeds, 15-11 and 15-8.

In the mixed doubles quarterfinals, top seeds Sandiarto and Finarsih of Indonesia outlasted Wang Yi and Liu Zhong of China 17-14, 14-17 and 15-6. The second seeds, Agung and Anastasia of Indonesia, took out China's Cheng Rui and Huang Nanyan 15-6 and 15-9. Yang Ming and Qian Hong of China, seeded seventh, beat the sixth seeds, Park Tae San and Park Soo Yun of Korea, 15-5, 9-15 and 15-13.

Zhang Jun and Liu Lu of China took their match against Pang Cheh Chang and Noorashikin Amin of Malaysia when Pang was unable to continue playing in the second game. The Chinese pair had won the opening game 15-11 and were holding a 6-0 lead in the second when Pang injured his leg.

The mixed doubles semifinals will see Sandiarto and Finarsih pitted against Zhang Jun and Liu Lu, and the Agung-Anastasia pairing matched up against Yang Ming and Qian Hong.

(jpcf/mig)