ALL-ENGLAND OPEN: RICKY AND REXY, SUSI DEFEATED IN QUARTERS

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS report is sponsored by YANG YANG BADMINTON EQUIPMENT and their UK agents, SUNRISE SPORTS (07050-182838/fax:07050-183838). **

March 13, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Olympic men's doubles gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia fell short in their quest for a third All-England Open badminton title tonight in quarterfinal action at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

Ricky and Rexy met their masters at least for this tournament in the newish combination of veteran Danish campaigners Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael Sogaard. The defense of the Danish pair against the smash attacks of the Olympic champions was mostly flawless tonight as they time and again lift-blocked the smashes of Subagja and Mainaky from corner to corner until they induced an error from the frustrated Indonesians or a loose shot at the net which Sogaard pounced on with venom.

The Danish smash attack was also strong, specially when Holst was in the backcourt powering the shuttle at steep angles with his jumping strokes.

The Danes also scored several times when they surprised the Indonesians with unexpected drives into the upper body from the net instead of the usual soft net shot or lift.

Holst and Sogaard took the first 15-8 on spectacular defenses, strong smash attacks and Sogaard's net kills.

In the second game, Ricky and Rexy fought back and took command early 8-3. However, the Danes found their timing again on their smash defense, blocking back several certain scoring smashes from an inch or two above the floor.

Holst and Sogaard crept back into the game 7-8, then 8-8 and then took the lead 9-8, 10-8, 11-8 and then 12-8.

Subagja and Mainaky fought on but the timing of the Danish smash defense seemed to be tuned in to the Indonesian attack. The Indonesians managed to eke out several points but Holst and Sogaard responded with a few scores of their own to get to match point 14-11. In the ensuing rally, the Danes got the attack going and Subagja lift-blocked a Danish smash wide to end the match 15-11.

With their win, Holst and Sogaard move on to a semifinal match with second seeds Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock from Malaysia. Cheah and Yap defeated 5/8 seeds Nikolaj Zuev and Abdrej Antropov of Russia 11-15, 15-11 and 11-3.

Men's doubles top seeds Sigit Budiarto and Chandra Wijaya of Indonesia won their quarterfinal match against 5/8 seeds Liu Yong and Zhang Wei of China 15-7 and 15-6. They will play 5/8 seeds Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin of Korea who had dispatched 3/4 seeds Denny Kantono and Antonius Iriantho of Indonesia 18-17, 7-15 and 15-6.

In men's singles, Olympic silver medalist and 9/16 seed Dong Jiong of China ended Peter Rasmussen's hopes of an All-England title 15-12 and 15-8. Dong will play top-seed Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the semifinals in a rematch of the Atlanta Olympic gold medal match. Hoyer was a 15-7, 15-12 winner over 5/8 seed Budi Santoso of Indonesia.

World champion Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, seeded 9/16 here, was in trouble against China's Luo Yigang in the early going. Arbi seemed out-of-sorts and lost the first game 8=15. He got himself going in the second as he managed to induce smashable lifts from Luo which he would pound with his jumpsmash or caress with a deceptive dropshot. He took the second 15-9 and the third 15-6.

Arbi plays China's Sun Jun in the semifinals, a rematch of men's singles match for the world mixed team championships in 1995 when Sun defeated Arbi. Sun Jun was the 15-9 and 15-9 winner of a late quarterfinal match over teammate Lin Liwen.

In a women' singles quarterfinal, second-seed Gong Zhichao outrallied the queen of the rallying style of singles play, Susi Susanti, and sent the 1992 Olympic gold medalist and four-time All-England champion from Indonesia to the sidelines to join her husband of one month, Alan Budikusuma, as onlookers (Budikusuma, the 1992 Olympic men's singles medalist, was upset in the first round).

Gong rallied patiently with Susanti in the first game, retrieving shots from all over the court until she could pull Susanti out of position for a scoring dropshot or smash or until she could deceive Susanti with a net shot that she would hold and flick at the last moment to wrongfoot the Indonesian player. Gong outplayed Susanti totally in the first game and reached ame point at 10-1. Susanti stiffened her resistance and tallied 3 more points before Gong scored the game-winner.

In the second, Susi was able to hold her own in the rallies early to take a slight lead at 4-3. Gong then exerted herself more to reach and return Susanti's shots, sometimes with a back-to-the-net forehand that would surprise the Indonesian.

Gong seized the lead at 5-4 and then rolled on, scoring two or three points to Susanti's one. She reached game point at 10-7 and then took the match on a deceptive shot at the net that fooled Susanti.

Gong will play Ra Kyung Min of Korea in the semifinals. Ra conquered 3/4 seeded Camilla Martin of Denmark 11-7, 11-12 and 11-6.

The other women's singles semifinal will pit world champion Ye Zhaoying, seeded 3/4, against teammate Dai Yun. Ye disposed of Korea's Kim Ji Hyun easily 11-7 and 11-1 while Dai eliminated teammate and 5/8 seed Zhang Ning 5-11, 12-11 and 11-8.

5/8 women's doubles seeds Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen surprised 3/4 seeds Denyana Lomban and Indarti Isolina of Indonesia in their quarterfinal match. The jumpsmashing Lomban and partner Isolina, who use an attacking style similiar to men's doubles, outplayed the Danish pair in the first game, winning at 15-12.

The second was a nail-biter. The Indonesians seemed to be in control and reached match point. The Danes turned the Indonesians back courtesy of a line call that went against Lomban and Isolina. The Danes then caught up and in a tense tiebreak, prevailed 17-16 as they changed their defense from drive-blocks to cross-court lift blocks in order to move the smasher around and tire her out.

In the decider, Kirkegaard and Olsen continued with their lift-blocking and focused their play on the weaker-smashing Isolina. They got an early lead at 3-0 and then stretched it to 7-3 before the Indonesians got closer at 8-6.

The Danish tactics of crosscourt blocking and pinning Isolina to the back continued to work as they scored time and again on net kills off a loose return or on an error.

At game point 14-8, they again got the Indonesians positioned with Isolina as the smasher and Lomban at the net. Isolina then tried to smash a winner off a lift-block but she powered it wide to the delight of the Danes.

The Danes will face top-seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun from China in the semifinals. Ge and Gu demolished 5/8 seeds Marina Andrievskaia and Christine Gandrup of Sweden 15-3 and 15-2.

In the other women's doubles semifinal, second seeds Eliza Nathanael and Resiana Zelin will meet the unseeded Chinese pair of Huang Nanyan and Liu Zhong. Eliza and Zelin defeated Chinese singles specialists Ye Zhaoying and Han Jingna 15-9 and 15-5 as Ye and Han could not handle the power smashes of the Indonesians and also could not muster any doubles-style all-out smash attacks of their own.

Huang and Liu upset 3/4 seeds Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark in their quarterfinal match 15-5, 10-15, and 15-10.

In mixed doubles, Chris Hunt and Donna Kellogg kept the English hopes for a good showing alive as they qualified for a place in the semifinals with their 15-8, 18-16 win over Nikolaj Zuev and Marina Yakusheva of Russia.

Second-seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark went down to defeat at the hands of 5/8 seeds Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China 15-6 and 15-9.

Liu and Ge will battle Hunt and Kellogg in tomorrow's semifinal.

Top-seeds Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia put out Zhang Wei and Liu Lu of China 15-5 and 15-7 to book a semifinal match against another Chinese pairing, Chen Xingdong and Gu Jun. Chen and Gu had upset 3/4 seeds Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark in their quarterfinal match 15-5 and 15-10.