NEWSBITS FROM THE CHINA OPEN
compiled by Mike Grossman

November 5, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - Following are bits of little- publicized news from the recently-completed China Open in Dong Guan, Guangdong:

MEN'S SINGLES

== Top-seed and Olympic silver medalist Dong Jiong was upended in the round-of-16 by the unheralded Salim from Indonesia in three games. Dong was the comfortable winner in the first game but let the Indonesian back into the game in the second. Salim won the third as Dong seemed to tighten up and played erratically.

Dong's loss greatly dims his chances of qualifying for the Grand Prix Finals tourney to be held in early December in Bali, Indonesia.

== China Open champion Fung Permadi of Chinese Taipei beat Indonesian hopeful Budi Santoso in the round-of-16, Yan Wei of China in the quarters, Chinese number 2 player Sun Jun in the semis, and Luo Yigang of China in the finals.

== Finalist Luo Yigang eliminated two Indonesians on his was to the final match - Salim in the quarters and Indra Wijaya in the semis.

== Kim Hak Kyun had the best Korean result in men's singles. He beat Indonesian Dwi Aryanto in the round-of-16 and then lost to Sun Jun in the quarters.

== Dutchman Joris van Soerland was the best Westerner in the men's singles, reaching the round-of-16 where he lost to Chen Gang of China.

== Best of the Indonesians was Indra Wijaya, who made the semifinals.

WOMEN'S SINGLES

== Top-seed and world champion Ye Zhaoying of China continues to disappoint her coaches and fans with her failure to get past compatriot Liu Yufang in the round-of-16. Previous disappointments include a heart-breaking loss to Susi Susanti of Indonesia in the championships of the Uber Cup Finals and a quarterfinal loss at the Atlanta Olympics to Korean Kim Ji Hyun.

== Second-seed Camilla Martin lost her round-of-16 match against Zeng Yaqiong of China.

== None of the Indonesian women singles players did particularly well. Meiluawati, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open, lost her opening match against Dai Yun of China. Ellen Engelina also lost her opening match against Gong Zhichao of China.

Cindana was the only Indonesian to win a match. She beat Li Lijun of China in her opener and then lost her second-round match.

== Korean Kim Ji Hyun, the Olympic fourth-placer, only won her opener. Compatriot Lee Joo Hyun fared better. Lee made the round-of-16 where she lost to the eventual finalist Wang Chen.

Ra Kyung Min, the Olympic silver medalist in mixed doubles, lost her opening match against world championships silver medalist Han Jingna of China. Ra is trying to resurrect the singles career which she had put on the backburner for the past 12 months as she and the legendary Park Joo Bong pursued the Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles.

== It was an all-China affair from the quarterfinals on with Liu Yufang, Dai Yun, Wang Chen, Gong Zhichao, Zhang Ning, Yao Yan, Yao Jie and Zeng Yaqiong comprising the elite eight.

Dai Yun, Wang Chen, Zhang Ning and Zeng Yaqiong made the final four with Wang Chen and Zhang Ning surviving into the final match.

== Zhang Ning's finals win put her into the top spot of the Grand Prix standings ahead of Camilla Martin and Susi Susanti.

MEN'S DOUBLES

== Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia, the Olympic gold medalists, were upended by younger compatriots Chandra Wijaya and Sigit in the finals. Ricky and Rexy were playing in their first international tournament since the Olympic Games ended in early August.

The effects of their long post-Olympic layoff showed as the R-and-R pair seemed to lose their sting in the later points of the first game and could not cope with the younger Indons in the second. Ricky and Rexy were also reported to have been seen in the wee hours of the morning of the finals, celebrating at the hotel watering hole.

== The win by Wijaya and Sigit puts them in good position to join fellow Indonesians Ricky and Rexy, Antonius and Kantono, Tony Gunawan and Rudy (Jateng) Wijaya at the Grand Prix Finals. Wijaya and Sigit do need one or two more good results to ensure their invitation to the big dance.

== Second-seeds Huang Zhanzhong and Jiang Xin, the top Chinese entry, lost to Koreans Lee Dong Soo and Hwang Sun Ho in the round-of-16. The Chinese number twos, Tao Xiaoqiang and Ge Cheng, made it to the semis where they lost to Ricky and Rexy.

== The best Western result came from Michael Sogaard and Henrik Svarrer of Denmark. Sogaard and Svarrer made the round-of-16 where they lost to Hian Eng and Hermono of Indonesia.

WOMEN'S DOUBLES

== One of China's Olympic gold medalists turned up sick and was unable to play. Singles specialist Ye Zhaoying was drafted as a substitute for Ge Fei. Ye and Gu Jun won their first match against Zhou Yu and Xu Huaiwen, also from China, but ran into the tough Koreans, Park Soo Yun and Kim Mee Hyang in the round-of-16.

Ye and Gu gave the Koreans a good match but lost in 3 games.

== Another singles specialist was also giving doubles a try. Susi Susanti of Indonesia teamed up with Finarsih for the China Open. The Indonesian pair got past Chinese players Li Mingchuan and Cai Jian in the first round, but lost a tight three-gamer to 5-8 seeds Liu Lu and Qiang Hong of China in the round-of-16.

== Had Susanti and Finarsih as well as Ye and Gu both won their round-of-16 matches, the two pairs would have played each other in a very interesting and unusual Susanti-versus-Ye quarterfinal matchup.

== Second-seeds Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark did not fare well at the China Open, losing their opener to Huang Nanyan and Liu Zhong of China.

== Yao Jie of China , the German Open women's singles champion, showed her doubles skills at the China Open. She and partner Gong Ruina upset the 3-4 seeds Liu Yufang and Sun Jian in the opening round. Yao and Gong made it as far as the semifinals where they lost to Park Soo Yun and Kim Mee Hyang of Korea.

== Olympic bronze medalists Qin Yiyuan and Tang Yongshu had an easy 15-2 first game in the finals against the Koreans Park S.Y. and Kim M.H. Park and Kim made things interesting in the second with the Korean never-say-die attitude but the cohesiveness of Qin and Tang helped them prevail over the relatively new Korean duo, 15-12.

MIXED DOUBLES

== The first and second seeded pairs met in the finals. Second seeds Chen Xingdong and Peng Xingyong of China beat top seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-10 and 15-4.

== Sogaard and Olsen's finals result was the best of all the Western entries in the entire tournament.

== 3-4 seeds Chris Hunt (England) and Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) lost their round-of-16 match against Lee Dong Soo and Park Soo Yun of Korea.

== Chinese women's singles specialist Han Jingna had a surprising result in the mixed doubles. Drafted as a replacement for the ill Ge Fei, Han partnered Liu Yong to a semifinal finish.

Liu and Han beat the tough Korean pair of Kang Kyung Jin and Kim Mee Hyang 13-15, 15-12 and 17-14 to qualify for the semifinals where they lost to the eventual champions, Chen and Peng, 15-3 and 15-13.