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ASIAN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS: SUN JUN, DONG JIONG UPENDED

September 3, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - China's top men's singles players, Sun Jun and Dong Jiong, were eliminated from the Asian Badminton Championships in Bangkok, Thailand earlier today by Indonesian shuttlers Marleve Mainaky and Taufik Hidayat. Sun, the top seed at the tourney, lost to Mainaky 12-15 and 8-15 in the quarterfinal stage, while Dong was defeated by the teenaged Hidayat in the previous round 15-9, 3-15 and 11-15.

Mainaky was aggressive in his play against Sun Jun early and combined strong smashes and delicate dropshots to take a hard-fought first game. In the second set, Sun was the aggressor early but then made far too many errors, allowing Mainaky to steal the match.

China though got some measure of revenge against the Indonesians when Chen Gang upended the second-seeded Hendrawan 15-3 and 15-11 and third-seed Luo Yigang put out Rosobin Jeffer 15-10, 10-15 and 15-13.

In tomorrow's semifinals, Mainaky and Hidayat will face each other, while Chen and Luo will battle for the other spot in the finals.

In women's singles, China led by world champion Ye Zhaoying swept the quarterfinals, while in the men's doubles, Indonesians Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian upended top-seeded Koreans Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yung-sung 15-12 and 15-3.

In the mixed doubles event, singles ace Sun Jun, substituting for the sick Liu Yong, booked a place in the semifinals with close friend Ge Fei. Sun and Ge upset the fifth-seeded Koreans Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Shin-young 15-11 and 15-5.

Partial Quarterfinal Results:

Men's Singles:
Marleve Mainaky (Indonesia) beat Sun Jun (China) 15-12, 15-8
Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) beat Ng Wei (Hong Kong) 15-4, 15-13
Luo Yi Gang (China) beat Rosobin Jeffer (Indonesia) 15-10, 10-15, 15-13
Chen Gang (China) beat Hendrawan (Indonesia) 15-3, 15-11

Women's Singles:
Ye Zhaoying (China) beat Huang Chia-chi (Taiwan) 11-7, 11-3
Dai Yun (China) beat Mia Audina (Indonesia) 11-2, 11-4
Gong Ruina (China) beat Kim Ji- hyun (Korea) 11-8, 6-11, 11-3
Gong Zhichao (China) beat Yasuko Mizui (Japan) 11-7, 11-6

Men's Doubles:
Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian (Indonesia) beat Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-sung (Korea) 15-12, 15-3
Zhang Jun/Zhang Wei (China) beat Chan Chong Ming/Jeremy Gan (Malaysia) 15-6, 15-7
Kang Kyung-jin/Ha Tae-kwon (Korea) beat Pramote Theerawiwatana/Siripong Siripool (Thailand) 15-4, 15-10

Women's Doubles:
Ge Fei/Gu Jun (China) beat Hiromi Yamada/Naomi Murakami (Japan) 15-1, 15-2
Yim Kyung-jin/Chung Jae-hee (Korea) beat Saralee Thungthongkham/Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn (Thailand) 10-15, 15-6, 15-9
Qin Yiyuan/Tang Hetian (China) beat Angelina Pauw/Vita Marissa (Indonesia) 15-8, 15-4

Mixed Doubles:
Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Korea) beat Zhang Jun/Gong Ruina (China) 15-5, 17-15
Chen Gang/Tang Hetian (China) beat Imam Tohari/Anastasia (Indonesia) 15-2, 15-4
Sun Jun/Ge Fei (China) beat Ha Tae-kwon/Kim Shin-young (Korea) 15-11, 15-5
Bambang Suprianto/Resiana Zelin (Indonesia) beat Luo Yigang/Qin Yiyuan (China) 15-4, 15-9

(lyg/dsimmons)