TOP SEEDS FALL ON TWO CONTINENTS
by Mike Grossman (from reports filed by YANG YANG Badminton Equipment)

November 21, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - Top-seeded players in two different international badminton tournaments on two continents were upset earlier today.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Hermawan Susanto of Indonesia, an Olympic bronze medalist in 1992 and a world championship silver medalist in 1993, was beaten in a second round men's singles match at the Vietnam Open by Malaysian second-stringer Jason Wong, 18-13 and 15-5.

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, Scotland, Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden, seeded first in women's singles at the Scottish Open tournament of the European Badminton Union, was eliminated by the youthful Chinese lefthander, Wu Huimin, in the first round, 11-7 and 11-5.

In other men's singles matches at Ho Chi Minh City, Xiao Ting of China beat Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia 12-15, 15-8 and 15-5, while Hendrawan of Indonesia beat Ng Kean Koh of Malaysia 15-6 and 15-5. Chinese player Yan Wei beat George Rimarodi of Indonesia 15-6 and 15-3. Nunong Subandoro of Indonesia beat Kim Yong Gil of Korea 15-5 and 15-4. Lo Ah Heng of Malaysia defeated Natapol of Thailand 15-9 and 15-10. Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong beat Irwansyah of Indonesia 18-15 and 15-9, and Rosobin Jeffer of Indonesia defeated Chang Wim Kai of Malaysia 15-8 and 15-4.

In women's singles, Philippine Olympian Amparo Lim beat Lam Ai Thuy of Vietnam 11-7 and 11-1, while compatriot Kennie Asuncion upended Ng Ching of Hong Kong 12-10, 8-11 and 11-7. Hisako Mizui of Japan beat Nguyen Thi Thien of Vietnam 11-1 and 12-9, while her sister, Yasuko, won over Thai player Nucharee 11-1 and 11-3. Choi Ma Ree of Korea beat Lee Yin Yin of Malaysia 11-5 and 11-7. Sun Jian of China beat Chung Jung Hee of Korea 11-4 and 11-3. Lydia Djaelawidjaya of Indonesia took her match against Le Thi Kim of Vietnam when Le was injured in the second game; the Indon player was ahead 11-1 and 7-4 when the match was stopped.

In men's doubles, Sutrisna and Wibowo of Indonesia beat Ng Kean Koh and Foo Yoon Keong of Malaysia 15-1 and 15-3. Pang Cheh Chang and Lee Chee Leong of Malaysia beat Phan Le The Thang and Nguyen Phu Cuong of Vietnam 15-1 and 15-7.

Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook defeated Pichet and Natapol of Thailand 15-2 and 15-4. With the victory, Lee and Choong inched closer to confirming a place in the upcoming World Grand Prix Finals and dislodging Simon Archer and Chris Hunt of England from the last qualifying spot.

In women's doubles, Zeng Yaqiong and Sun Jian of China beat the Mizui sisters 14-18, 17-14 and 18-14. Finarsih and Djaelawijaya of Indonesia defeated Vo and Le from Vietnam 15-4 and 15-5.

In the withdrawal-plagued men's singles draw in Glasgow, top-seeded men's singles player Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark beat Chen Wei of China 15-9 and 15-9 in a second round match. Pontus Jantti of Finland upset Jesper Olsson of Sweden 18-13 and 15-8, while Henrik Bengtsson of Sweden beat Richard Doling of England 15-7 and 15-9.

Peter Knowles of England and Ji Xingpeng of China also won their first and second round matches to gain the quarterfinals. Knowles beat Nielsen of Iceland and Mailer of Scotland, while Ji eliminated Wapp of Switzerland and Janum of Denmark.

Three seeded men's singles players had earlier withdrawn from the tourney. Second-seed Jens Olsson from Sweden has a bad cold. Martin Lundgaard Hansen of Denmark and Thomas Johanssen of Sweden also pulled out for medical reasons.

In Scottish Open women's singles action, Anne Gibson of Scotland, Liu Yufang of China and Karolina Ericcson of Sweden qualified for the quarterfinals together with Wu Huimin. Liu beat Ireland's Sandra McGinn 11-6 and 11-1, Ericsson beat Sandra Watt of Scotland 4-11, 11-4 and 11-3, and Borg defeated Gillian Martin of Scotland 11-1 and 11-2.