STUER AND FUNG GAIN HONG KONG OPEN SEMIS
Susi Makes It to Women's Doubles Semis
by Mike Grossman (from reports filed by YANG YANG Badminton Equipment)

November 8, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - The two remaining top-seeds in the men's singles event at the badminton Hong Kong Open both won their quarterfinal matches today to remain in the hunt for the championship.

3-4 seed Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark beat a scrappy Indra Wijaya of Indonesia in a tightly contested three-gamer, 15-10, 16-18 and 15-12. The other 3-4 seed, Fung Permadi from the Chinese Taipei badminton organization, had an easier match with Soren Nielsen of Denmark, winning at 15-6 and 15-7.

Stuer and Permadi are the highest men's singles seeds left in the tourney. The top-seed, Rashid Sidek of Malaysia, had withdrawn before the first match due to illness while second-seed Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia is still recuperating from an injury.

In the semifinals, Stuer will face off against a dangerous player in the Indonesian Salim. At the China Open last week, Salim had upset Dong Jiong of China, the Olympic silver medalist and tournament top-seed. Salim beat qualifier Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia 15-3 and 15-3 to book his place in the semifinals.

Permadi, the China Open champion, tangles with young Budi Santoso of Indonesia, the 15-7, 15-8 winner over Deepankar Bhattacharya of India in his quarterfinal match.

In women's singles, the first and second seeds both went through to the semifinals. The tournament favorite, Mia Audina of Indonesia, beat Lee Joo Hyun of Korea with ease, 11-6 and 11-1, while second-seed Camilla Martin also had an easy quarterfinal outing against Cindana of Indonesia, winning at 11-2 and 11-2.

Audina will face Kim Ji Hyun of Korea in one semifinal. This encounter will be a rematch of two Atlanta Olympic Games semifinalists. Audina had come out the winner then and is favored to repeat against the Korean.

Kim had defeated Brenda Beenhakker of the Netherlands in her quartefinal match 11-4 and 11-5.

Martin will battle Ra Kyung Min of Korea in the other semifinal. The 5-8 seeded Ra had beaten the 3-4 seed, Meiluawati of Indonesia, 11-1 and 11-7, to earn the right to play in the semis.

In women's doubles, Susi Susanti of Indonesia, a premier women's singles player, made it into her first Grand Prix tournament semifinals in the event. Susi and compatriot Finarsih beat Peng Jie and Cheng Jiao of China in their quarterfinal match, 7-15, 15-6 and 15-3.

The Danish pair of Marlene Thomsen and Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen defeated Carmelita and Nonong of Indonesia 15-11 and 15-3 to also qualify for the semifinals. 3-4 seeds Isoliana Indarti and Denyana Lomban of Indonesia also made the semis with their 15-10, 14-18 and 15-4 win over Koreans Park Soo Yun and Kim Mee Hyang.

In UNCONFIRMED mixed doubles quarterfinals results, Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark are reported to have upset the top-seeds Limpele Flandy and Rosalina Riseu, 15-9 and 15-12.

Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark, the second-seeds, made the semifinals where they will play Imam Tohari and Erma Ermawati of Indonesia, the 15-12 and 18-13 quarterfinal victors over Que Ning and Chai Jian of China.

3-4 seeds Peter Axelsson and Catrine Bengtsson beat Lee Dong Soo and Park Soo Yun of Korea, 12-15, 15-10 and 15-10, to take the fourth semifinal position.