WORLD NUMBER 141 TAKES WEAKENED ASIAN MEN'S SINGLES TITLE (Indonesia Takes 4 Titles) April 21, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - Unseeded Indonesian player Rosobin Jeffer defeated another non-seed, Luo Yigang of China, in the men's singles final of the Asian badminton championships that ended in Sura- baya, Indonesia today. The young Jeffer is just emerging from the junior ranks and is ranked number 141 in the world. Luo is listed at the 100th position. Jeffer beat Luo 9-15 15-7 15-5 to take his first significant badminton title, but his victory is clouded by the weak field in this edition of the Asian championships. Most of the top Asian players and coaches were absent from the tournament as they are training for the more important world men's and women's team championships - the Thomas and Uber Cups finals - scheduled for Hong Kong in late May. Host Indonesia, China, Korea and Malaysia sent their second-string players like world number 13 Hendrawan (Indonesia), world number 21 Ahn Jae Chang (Korea), world number 29 Chen Gang (China) and world number 60 Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia), and these entries fell in the earlier rounds. Jeffer was joined on the gold medal winners list by 3 Indonesian doubles teams as the host Indonesians took a total of 4 out of the 5 championships at stake. In the men's doubles finals, Ade Sutrisna and Chandra Wijaya, ranked number 8 in the world but only fifth in Indonesia, had to struggle against the Korean pair of Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin before they claimed the gold medal with a scoreline of 15-8 15-17 15-11. In the women's doubles, the scratch pairing of Eliza and Finarsih beat fellow Indonesians Lomban Denyana and Isolina Indarti 15-8 15-6. Eliza usually partners Resiana Zelin with whom she is ranked 8th in the world while Finarsih usually plays with Lili Tampi. The Finarsih-Tampi combo is ranked 12th in the world. The Indonesians were trying out different combinations as they prepare to defend their world women's team championships, specially against the Chinese ladies with their three top-ranked doubles pairs. As well, Lili Tampi is recovering from a leg injury and still has some difficulty with her on-court movement. Tampi instead teamed up with the tricky Trikus Heryanto in the mixed doubles and she came away from the championships with a gold medal. Tampi and particularly Trikus completely dominated the Koreans Kang Kyung Jin and Kim Mee Hyang in the mixed doubles finals, allowing their opponents to score only 1 point in the first game and 6 in the second. Only the women's singles escaped the Indonesian side. In this event, China's Gong Zhichao upset world number 19 Lee Joo Hyun of Korea in the finals 11-7 11-1. COPYRIGHT 1996 by D.Shuttlenws.genie.com. PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute electronically in whole or in part.