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SINGAPORE KONICA OPEN: HENDRAWAN TOPPLES SUN JUN

August 15, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Hendrawan, Indonesia's new men's singles sensation, today masterfully defeated Sun Jun of China in the semifinal stage of the Singapore Konica Open to gain a place in tomorrow's championship match. Hendrawan used very tightly placed net shots to great advantage, often getting a weak lift that he could pound for a score or forcing an error. Sun Jun, who is known for his defensive prowess and speed of foot, was unable to find a consistent counter against Hendrawan's tactics and control of the net, specially in the second game and was defeated by the Indonesian 15-10 and 15-6.

Hendrawan's opponent in the final will be top-seed Peter Gade of Denmark, who survived a three-set affair against Malaysia's Yong Hock Kin 17-15, 5-15 and 15-9.

In the first game, Gade was in command against the Malaysian lefthander, reaching game point at 14-10. Yong though save game point and clawed his way back. He was able to force tiebreak at 14-all. Gade then allowed Yong one more point before closing out the game 17-15.

In the second, Yong pulled away to an early 5-0 lead. He then rolled to an easy 15-5 win to knot the match at 1 game apiece.

It was Gade who had early command of the decider, taking a four-point lead at 7-3. Yong though came back, capitalizing on a series of scoring net shots. The two battled hard in the mid-game with Gade inching ahead at 10-9. The Dane then uncorked more of his smashing attack and pounded the shuttle for five scores to take the decider 15-9.

In the mixed doubles final played today, Indonesia's Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur defeated top-seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen 15-10 and 15-8.

In women's singles, Susi Susanti of Indonesia outlobbed and outlasted the top-seeded Camilla Martin of Denmark, 4-11, 11-6 and 11-2, to take one of tomorrow's final spots. World champion Ye Zhaoying defeated teammate Gong Zhichao, the second-seed, 11-8 and 11-2 in the other semifinal.

Other semifinal results:
Men's Doubles
Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto (Indonesia) beat Tony Gunawan/Halim Haryanto (Indonesia) 17-15, 15-5
Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia) beat Denny Kantono/Antonius Iriantho (Indonesia) 15-9, 15-10

Women's Doubles
Ge Fei/Gu Jun (China) beat Nicole Van Hooren/Lotte Jonathans (Netherlands) 15-6, 15-7
Qin Yiyuan/Tang Yongshu (China) beat Huang Nanyan/Lu Ying (China) 15-7, 15-2

(aplayer/dsimmons)