THAI OPEN: ARBI AN EASY WINNER TODAY

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS REPORT is presented by badminton world champions YANG YANG (1987 and 1989) and ZHAO JIAN HUA (1991) and by YANG YANG BADMINTON PRODUCTS **

November 12, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, the top seed in men's singles at the Thailand Open, had an easy day today at the Nimibutr stadium in Bangkok. Arbi trounced a hapless Allan Tai of Malaysia 15-2 and 15-4 to move into the third round, where he will face the tenth seed, Rashid Sidek of Malaysia.

Sidek who is playing in his first tournament after sustaining a stress fracture in one of his legs four months ago, came through to the third round with a 15-12 and 15-8 win over Thai number one Apichai Thiraratsakul.

Men's singles second seed Indra Wijaya of Indonesia also gained the third round when he defeated Sirichai Panpachara of Thailand 15-8 and 15-6.

In a minor upset, Malaysian-trained Ponttus Jantti of Finland outlasted the thirteenth seed from Denmark, Anders Boesen, 11-15, 15-4 and 15-12.

In women's singles, the withdrawal of top seed Susi Susanti of Indonesia allowed Wang Chen of China, a top-quality player who is strangely unseeded at the tournament, to proceed without any effort today to the third round. Second seed Camilla Martin of Denmark also did not make it to the tournament giving her scheduled opponent today, Zeng Yaqiong of China, a win by walkover.

There was a major upset in the mixed doubles event, when second-seeds Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia fell to Yang Ming and Qin Yiyuan of China 8-15, 15-3, 12-15.

Some of the key results from today's matches:

Men's Singles (Second Round)
Heryanto Arbi (Indonesia) beat Allan Tai (Malaysia) 15-2, 15-4
Rashid Sidek (Malaysia) beat Apichai Thiraratsakul (Thailand) 15-12, 15-8
Chen Gang (China) beat Henrik Bengtsson (Sweden) 7-15, 15-11, 15-11
Pontus Janti (Finland) beat Anders Boesen (Denmark) 11-15, 15-4, 15-12
Wong Choong Hann (Malaysia) beat Mark Constable (England) 15-10, 15-6
Hendrawan (Indonesia) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 18-17, 15-8
Indra Wijaya (Indonesia) beat Sirichai Panpachara (Thailand) 15-8, 15-6
Roslin Hashim (Malaysia) beat Ismail Saman (Malaysia) 11-15, 17-14, 15-3
George Rimarcdi (Indonesia) beat Siew Yian Wai (Malaysia) 15-10, 15-12
Lo Ah Heng (Malaysia) beat Colin Haughton (England) 10-15, 15-9, 15-4

Women's Singles (Second Round)
Mette Pedersen (Denmark) beat Thitakan Duangsiri (Thailand) 11-1, 11-6
Kim Ji Hyun (Korea) beat Pornsawan Plungwech (Thailand) 11-1, 11-2
Mia Audina (Indonesia) beat Katja Michalowsky (Germany) 11-5, 11-2
Zeng Yaqiong (China) beat Camilla Martin (Denmark) walkover
Wang Chen (China) beat Susi Susanti (Indonesia) walkover
Nujarintra Thikhatrakul (Thailand) beat Katarzyna Krasowska (Poland) 12-11, 11-3
Zhang Ning (China) beat Natsaran Boonvoramehhi (Thailand) 11-6, 11-3
Xu Huaiwen (China) beat Tine Rasmussen (Denmark) 11-1, 11-2
Yao Yan (China) beat Ticha Boonyarak (Thailand) 11-1, 11-1
Woon Sze Mei (Malaysia) beat Sandrine Lefevre (France) 11-2, 11-4

Men's Doubles
Choi Ji Tae/Park Yong Jae (Korea) beat Law Wei Kwang Eric/Gilbert Lim Heng Hou (Singapore) 15-10, 15-13
Yap Kim Hock/Cheah Soon Kit (Malaysia) beat Zhang Jun/Yang Ming (China) 15-3, 15-2
Sigit Budiarto/Chandra Wijaya (Indonesia) beat Peter Nissen/Jonas Rasmussen (Denmark) 15-11, 15-5
Pramote Teerawiwatana/Siripong Siripul (Thailand) beat Tunde Agarawu/Danjuma Fatauchi (Nigeria) 15-2, 15-3
Tesana Panvisvas/Anurak Thiraratsakul (Thailand) beat Chris Hunt/Simon Archer (England) 15-11, 15-6
Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia) beat Chatchai Boonmee/Naruetham Surakakha (Thailand) 15-2, 15-3

Mixed Doubles
Anurak Teeraratsakul/Ticha Boonyarak (Thailand) beat Peder Nissen/Mette Schjoldager (Denmark) 11-15, 15-6, 15-8
Imam Tohari/Ema Ermawati (Indonesia) beat Khunakorn Sudhisodhi/Somharutai Jaroensiri (Thailand) 7-15, 17-15, 15-1
Yang Ming/Qin Yiyuan (China) beat Trikus Heryanto/Minarti Timur (Indonesia) 15-8, 3-15, 15-12
Lee Dong Soo/Park Soo Yun (Korea) beat Abubakar Ibrahim/Prisca Azuine (Nigeria) 15-0, 15-3

(mcoe/dsimmons)