ASIAN PLAYERS PROMINENT IN WORLD JUNIORS SO FAR
Meulendijks of the Netherlands Survives Asian Singles Onslaught
by Mike Grossman (from information supplied by World Junior Championships Press Desk)

November 22, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - With the 1996 world junior championships in Silkeborg, Denmark now at its final stages, the names of Asian players are, as expected, prominent among those that have survived into the quarterfinal round, specially in the singles events where 15 of the 16 quarterfinalists come from Asian countries
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Only Judith Meulendijks of the Netherlands has so far survived among the non-Asian singles players. Meulendijks, seeded 3-4, beat the 9-16 seeded Korean Park Yoon Kyung, 11-3 and 11-3, to remain in the hunt in the female singles event.

In the eighth-finals of the male singles event, top-seed Yudi Suprayogi of Indonesia survived a tough match with the unseeded Yap Yong Guen of Malaysia 12-15, 15-12 and 15-9. 5-8 seed Zhu Feng of China beat the unseeded Ville Kinnunen of Finland 15-9 and 15-4. Suprayogi and Zhu will face off in the quarterfinals later tonight.

The unseeded Park Tae Sang of Korea upended 3-4 seed Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 15-9 and 17-16 to set up a quarterfinal match with 5-8 seed Rony Agustinus of Indonesia. Agustinus came from behind to beat unseeded Malaysian Lee Tsuen Seng 11-15, 15-7 and 15-8.

5-8 seed Xie Min of China defeated the promising 9-16 seed, Richard Vaughan of Wales 15-10 and 15-12. Xie will face 3-4 seed Rudy Ignatius of Indonesia 15-12, 9-15 and 15-12 survivor of a tough match over 9-16 seed James Chua Kie How of Malaysia.

Unseeded Indonesian Taufik Hidayat beat another non-seed, Abhinn Shyam Gupta of India 15-11 and 15-11 to book a quarterfinal match against second-seed Xia Xuanze of China. Xia defeated unseeded Malaysian Yeoh Kay Bin in another tough match 15-8, 2-15 and 15-11.

Female singles top-seed Lee Kyong Won of Korea won her eighth-final match against 9-16 seed Zhou Mi of China 11-3, 9-12 and 11-6. Lee battles the unseeded but upset-minded Dwi Retna of Indonesia in the quarterfinals. Retna had opened her run in the tourney by upending the seeded Katja Wengberg of Sweden 11-7 and 11-5. She beat Corinne Jorg of Switzerland 11-0 and 11-1 in her eighth-final match.

Aparna Popat, the suprising non-seed from India, beat the young Olympian from Taiwan, Huang Chia-chi, 11-3, 7-11 and 11-9 to earn a quarterfinal bout against Meulendijks.

Another non-seed, Gong Ruina of China, beat 9-16 seed Donna Kellogg of England 11-1 and 11-3 in her round-of-16 match, while Peng Ju Ju of Taiwan, also unseeded, defeated 3-4 seed Tine Rasmussen of Denmark in an exciting see-saw battle 11-8, 7-11 and 12-11. Gong and Peng face each other in the quarterfinals.

5-8 seed Lee Soon Deuk of Korea beat 9-16 seed Satomi Igawa of Japan 11-6 and 11-4. Her quarterfinal opponent will be second-seed Yu Hua of China who beat unseeded Megan Heaney of New Zealand 11-1 and 11-4.

In male doubles, top-seeds Muljayaya and Saputra of Indonesia beat the Tesches of Germany 15-6 and 15-8 to gain a quarterfinal berth. 5-8 seeds Lee Sang Ki and Woo Hyun Ho of Korea squeezed past 9-16 seeds Henrik Jeppesen and Kristian Langbak of Denmark 7-15, 17-15 and 15-11 and will play the top-seeds next.

3-4 seeds Ove Svejstrup and Kasper Odum of Denmark beat back the challenge of 9-16 seeds Isakkson and Holm of Sweden 15-6, 1-15 and 15-7 in their eighth-final match. The 3-4 seeds will next face 9-16 seeds Chan Chong Ming and Jeremy Gan Wye Teck of Malaysia. Chan and Gan had taken out the 5-8 seeds from China, Cheng Rui and Chen Qi Qiu, in their round-of-16 match 15-9 and 15-2.

5-8 seeds Tang Soo Sen and Yap Wee Meng will battle the unseeded Taiwanese pair, Huang Shih Chung and Chien Yu Hsiu, in the quarters. Tang and Yap beat 9-16 seeded Germans Rehan Khan and Mike Joppien 15-7 and 15-8 while Huang and Chien pulled off a 6-15, 15-11 and 15-4 upset victory over 3-4 seeds Wang Wei and Wu Changqing of China.

Second-seeds Yim Bang Eun and Kim Yong Hyun of Korea and 5-8 seeds Tommy Sorensen and Thomas Rojkjaer of Denmark make up the final matchup in the male doubles quarterfinals. The Koreans beat Ohtsuka and Masuda of Japan 15-7 and 15-7 in their sweet sixteen match while the Danes defeated the 9-16 seeds, Noor and Edwin from Indonesia, 3-15, 15-3 and 15-6.

The female doubles quarterfinal matchups feature top-seeds Britta Andersen and Jane Jacoby of Denmark versus 9-16 seeds Anita and Yunita of Indonesia, 9-16 seeds Lee So Young and Park So Young of Korea versus 5-8 seeds Lu Ying and Zhan Yubin of China, 5-8 seeds Chung Jae Hee and Yim Kyung Jin of Korea versus the unseeded Chor Hooi Yee and Lim Pek Siah of Malaysia, and second-seeds Gao Ling and Yang Wei of China versus 9-16 seeds Ella Karachkova and Janna Chernenkaja of Russia.

In the female eighth-finals, Andersen and Jacoby beat Toongthongkam and Boonyarak of Thailand 15-6 and 15-6, Anita and Yunita beat 5-8 seeds Pintrowski and Peiffer of Germany 15-8 and 15-9, Lee and Park upset 3-4 seeds Kellogg and LeFeuvre of England 15-18, 15-8 and 15-7, Lu and Zhan beat Nagamine and Igawa of Japan 15-6 and 15-11, Chung and Yim beat Teng and Hsiao of Taiwan 15-5 and 15-5, Chor and Lim upset 3-4 seeds Line Larsen and Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 8-15, 15-7 and 15-12, Karachkova and Chernenkaja beat Marisa and Widowati of Indonesia 15-9 and 15-10, and the pair of Gao and Yang beat 9-16 seeds Mori and Miyake of Japan 15-6 and 15-5.

In mixed doubles, 3 pairs from China and 1 Indonesian team remain in contention.

9-16 seeds Cheng Rui and Gao Ling, who had upset the top-seeds Kim and Yim of Korea, 10-15, 15-12 and 15-12, in the round-of-16, beat 5-8 seeds Kristian Langbak and Jane Bramsen of Denmark 15-12 and 15-12 to claim a spot in the semifinals.

They will face compatriots Zhu Feng and Zhou Mi, seeded 3-4. Zhu and Zhou defeated Muljayaya and Marisa of Indonesia 18-14 and 15-8.

The 3-4 seeds from Indonesia, Rizal Fadilalah and Neneng Setiawati beat 9-16 seeds Michael Jensen and Lene Mork of Denmark 15-5 and 15-10. Rizal and Setiawati will meet the unseeded Wang Wei and Lu Ying of China in the semifinals later tonight. Wang and Lu upset the second-seeds Ove Svejstrup and Britta Andersen of Denmark in a tightly-contested quarterfinal match 16-17, 15-11 and 15-9.

(New Shuttlenws will publish the main draw results of all the players and pairs from all entered countries at the 1996 world junior championships on http://www.badminton.org on Sunday, November 24).