MALAYSIAN OPEN: MALAYSIAN SINGLES ACES TUMBLE IN QUARTERFINALS

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July 11, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Malaysia's top men's singles players both lost their quarterfinal matches to lower-rated Indonesians in today's action at the Malaysian Open in Kota Kinabalu. Defending champions Ong Ewe Hock, seeded second, was defeated by 5-to-8 seed Budi Santoso 10-15, 15-6 and 15-11 while the veteran Rashid Sidek, a 3-to-4 seed, lost to fellow veteran Hermawan Susanto 5-15 and 6-15.

Sidek was very sluggish in his match against Susanto. He said afterwards that he had reinjured his left hamstring probably during his match with Salim in the previous round and that he had felt pain even before going on court against Susanto.

Top seed Joko Suprianto of Indonesia survived a lengthy battle with 5-to-8 seed Luo Yigang of China 15-10, 11-15, 18-14, while 3-to-4 seed Peter Gade-Christensen of Denmark squeaked by Alan Budi Kusuma, another 5-to-8 seed, in the first game 17-16 and then outplayed him in the second 15-11.

In mixed doubles semifinal play, world champions Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China breezed past 3-to-4 seeds Imam Tohari and Ema Ermawati 15-2 and 15-3, while second-seeds Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark beat the other 3-to-4 seeds, Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia 18-13 and 15-10.

Liu and Ge will play the Danes Eriksen and Thomsen for the Malaysian Open championship tomorrow in a rematch of the world championships final.

In men's doubles, top-seeds Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia beat back the challenge of Thai standouts Pramote Teerawiwatana and Siripong Siripol, 15-10 and 15-4 to qualify for tomorrow's semifinals.

Second seeds Denny Kantono and Antonius Iriantho of Indonesia defeated the Malaysian scratch pairing of Olympic silver medalist Cheah Soon Kit and Chew Choon Eng 15-9 and 15-6.

3-to-4 seeds Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook of Malaysia eliminated the 5-to-8 seeded Indonesians Rudy Wijaya and Seng Kok Keong. Lee and Choong had lost the first game 9-15 and then had come back to take the second 15-5.

In the decider, Wijaya and Seng had the upper hand early and raced to a 6-0 advantage, but the offense of the Malaysians started to click at this point while the Indonesian play went downhill. Lee and Choong wiped out the 6-point deficit and won 15-9.

In the other men's doubles quarterfinal, Koreans Yoo Yung Sung and Lee Dong Soo, seeded 3-to-4, eliminated 5-to-8 seeds Jesper Larsen and Jens Eriksen of Denmark (no score available).

In women's singles, top juniors Zhou Mi of China and Aparna Popat of India battled for a place in the semifinals. The Chinese player came out the winner 11-3 and 11-8.

Zhou's opponent in the semifinals will be world champion and top-seed Ye Zhaoying. Ye beat Korea's Lee Kyung Won easily 11-4 and 11-1.

Second-seed Susi Susanti of Indonesia also had an easy match, defeating Yasuko Mizui of Japan 11-4 and 11-4. 3-to-4 seed Dai Yun of China also won, eliminating the Indonesian teenager Yuli Marfuah 11-1 and 11-5.

In women's doubles quarterfinal action, world champions and top-seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China beat Park So Yun and Cha Yoon Sook of Korea, but the second-seeds, Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark were upset by the 5-to-8 seeded Chinese pair of Huang Nanyan and Liu Zhong 15-9 and 15-9.

3-to-4 seeds Marlene Thomsen and Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen, the defending champions from Denmark, defeated the Chinese youngsters Zhou Mi and Yu Hua, while Liu Lu and Qian Hong of China, the other 3-to-4 seeds, eliminated Yim Kyung Jin and Chung Jae Hee of Korea.

The matchups for tomorrow (number before player's name indicates seeding:

FINALS
Mixed Doubles:
1-Liu Yong/Ge Fei (China) versus 2-Jens Eriksen/Marlene Thomsen (Denmark)

SEMIFINALS
Men's Singles:
1-Joko Suprianto (Indonesia) versus 9/16-Hermawan Susanto (Indonesia)
3/4-Peter Gade-Christensen (Denmark) versus 5/8-Budi Santoso (Indonesia)
Women's Singles:
1-Ye Zhaoying (China) versus Zhou Mi (China)
2-Susi Susanti (Indonesia) versus 3/4-Dai Yun (China)
Men's Doubles:
1-Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia) versus 3/4-Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fook (Malaysia)
2-Denny Kantono/Antonius Iriantho (Indonesia) versus 3/4-Yoo Yung Sung/ Lee Dong Soo (Korea)
Women's Doubles:
1-Ge Fei/Gu Jun (China) versus 3/4-Marlene Thomsen/Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen (Denmark)
3/4-Liu Lu/Qian Hong (China) versus 5/8-Huang Nanyan/Liu Zhong (China)

(migrossman)