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ALL-ENGLAND: SUN AND GONG LEAD CHINESE TROOP INTO SEMIFINALS

March 12, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Men's singles second seed Sun Jun and women's singles top-seed Gong Zhichao both won their quarterfinal matches with ease today at the All-England Open badminton championships in Birmingham and led a troop of seven Chinese entries into tommorow's semifinals. Indonesia qualified five entries into the final four. Korea and Denmark have 3 semifinalists apiece while Malaysia booked two into the penultimate stage of the sport's most prestigious Open tournament.

Sun was particularly overwhelming today, demolishing Malaysia's Yong Hock Kin in a little over twenty minutes and allowing the Malaysian to score only four points in the first game and two in the second.

Gong was also masterful in her 11-3 and 11-2 victory over nememis Kim Ji Hyun of Korea. Unlike last weekend in the finals of the Swedish Open, Gong did not allow the Korean to run her ragged all over the court. Instead, the Chinese player controlled the rallies and finished the Korean off quickly.

Defending women's singles champion Ye Zhaoying of China beat Indonesia's Mia Audina 11-5 and 11-8. Ye's primary scoring weapon, the highly-disguised reversed slice drop, was working well today and she scored often against the Indonesian with combinations of clears followed by the slice drop or a smash.

In the men's doubles quarterfinals, world champion Chandra Wijaya and scratch partner Tony Gunawan of Indonesia eased into the next stage with a walkover when China's Zhu Feng and Yu Janhao were not able to play.

Olympic champions Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja, also of Indonesia, beat China's Liu Yong and Zhang Wei to book a spot in the final four. The R-and-R duo though had to earn their victory as the Chinese players were very effective in the early going and had a commanding lead in the opener. The experienced Indonesians played their way back into the game and managed to gain a 15-12 win. The Chinese again had the upper hand in the second and again R-and-R came storming back. This time, though, the Chinese were able to hold the Indonesians off and won the second 15-10.

In the third set, Ricky and Rexy did not let Liu and Zhang to get off to an early lead. Instead, the Indonesians went on a scoring spree and raced off to win the decider 15-5.

Liu Yong had another disappointment earlier in the day when he and partner Ge Fei, the defending mixed double champions, were upset by Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen. It was Olsen who was the star of the match as she was very aggressive at the net, negating Ge Fei's usual effectiveness in the front court and taking control of the short-range exchanges. Sogaard and Olsen beat the defending titleholders 11-15, 15-8 and 15-3.

The Quarterfinals Results
Men's Singles
Luo Yigang (China) beat Chen Hong (China) 15-2 15-5; Hendrawan (Indonesia) beat Jeroen van Dijk (Netherlands), walk over(inflamed Achilles); Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia) beat Heryanto Arbi (Indonesia) 17-15 15-6; Sun Jun (China) beat Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia) 15-4, 15-2

Women's Singles
Ye Zhaoying (China) beat Mia Audina (Indonesia) 11-5 11-8; Zhang Ning (China) beat Dai Yun (China) 10-12 11-6 11-7; Gong Zhichao (China) beat Kim Ji Hyun (Korea) 11-3 11-2; Camilla Martin (Denmark) beat Wang Chen (China) 11-3 11-9

Men's Doubles
Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung (Korea) beat Siripong Siripool/Pramote Teerawiwatana (Thailand) 15-5 15-6; Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah (Malaysia) beat Yang Ming/Zhang Jun (China) 15-6 15-4; Chandra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan (Indonesia) beat Zhu Feng/Yu Janhao (China) walkover; Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia) beat 5/8-Liu Yong/Zhang Wei (China) 15-12 10-15 15-5

Women's Doubles
Qin Yiyuan/Tang Yongshu (China) beat Indarti Isoliana/ Denyana Lomban (Indonesia) 15-4 15-9; Eliza/Rosiana Zelin (Indonesia) beat Ann Jorgensen/ Majken Vange (Denmark) 15-10 15-1; Ge Fei/Gu Jun (China) beat Haruko Matsuda/ Yoshiko Iwata (Japan) 15-2 15-4; Jang Hye Ock/Ra Kyung Min (Korea) beat Marlene Thomsen/Rikke Olsen (Denmark) 15-7 8-15 15-6

Mixed Doubles
Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen (Denmark) beat Liu Yong/Ge Fei (China) 11-15 15-8 15-3; Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min (Korea) beat Bambang Suprianto/Rosalina Riseu (Indonesia) 15-6 15-7; Trikus Heryanto/Minarti Timur (Indonesia) beat Michael Keck (Germany)/Erica van den Heuvel (Nethelands) 11-15 15-7 18-17; Jon Holst-Christensen/Ann Jorgensen (Denmark) beat Quinten van Dalm/Nicole van Hooren (Netherlands) 15-5 15-9

Semifinal Matchups
Men's Singles - Ong E.H. vs Hendrawan; Sun J. vs Luo Y.
Women's Singles - Gong Zh. vs Zhang N.; Ye Zh. vs C. Martin
Men's Doubles - C. Wijaya/T. Gunawan vs R. Mainaky/R. Subagja; Lee D.S./Yoo Y.S. vs Choong T.F./Lee W.W.
Women's Doubles - Qin Y./Tang Y. vs Jang H.O./Ra K.M.; Ge F./Gu J. vs Eliza/ R. Zelin
Mixed Doubles - Kim D.M./Ra K.M. vs J. Holst-Christensen/A. Jorgensen; T. Heryanto/M. Timur vs M. Sogaard/R. Olsen

(anonplayers/dsimmons)