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COMMONWEALTH GAMES: TINY NG MEE FEN SURPRISES

September 17, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Malaysia's tiny women's singles player Ng Mee Fen provided the surprise result of today's action at the badminton individual competition of the 1998 Commonwealth Games being held at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in the Cheras district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The teenaged Ng scored the biggest upset of the day when she easily eliminated Li Feng, the third-seeded Chinese-New Zealander, 11-4 and 11-3 in second-round play.

Li was hampered by a swollen and painful knee and she did not exhibit the same mobility that once earned her a Swedish Open semifinalist berth. A member of the New Zealand team said that Li had hurt her knee earlier this year at the Uber Cup preliminaries and that she had had an operation to remedy the injury. According to the same source, Li's knee still was not in tournament condition and often swells up whenever she plays or practices hard.

Later in the day, Ng Mee Fen demolished Michelle Edwards of South Africa 11-2 and 11-2 to book a place in the quarterfinals.

Women's singles top seed Kelly Morgan of Wales also made it thru to the elite eight. She crushed Dishanti Dharmasena of Sri Lanka 11-0 and 11-1 and then whipped Neelima Choudhary of India 11-3 and 11-1 in the round-of-16.

In men's singles, top seed Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia pulled out of the competition because of a severe hamstring injury. Second seed Yong Hock Kin and third seed Wong Choon Hann won today to qualify for the round-of-16. Yong beat Abshinni Shyam Gupta of India 15-4 and 15-4. Wong defeated Michael Watt of Northern Ireland 15-6 and 15-9.

In mixed doubles, Nathan Robertson and Joanne Davies scored a not-unexpected and rather easy upset victory over questionable third-seeds Anton Kriel and Michelle Edwards of South Africa 15-2 and 15-1.

In women's doubles, Canada's Charmaine Reid and Denyse Julien upended the fifth-seeded New Zealanders Nicole Gordon and Sheree Jefferson 15-13 and 15-5 to enter the quarterfinal round. Malaysians Norashikin Amin and Joanne Quay also joined the elite eight by upsetting sixth seeds Michaela Smith and Kate Wilson-Smith of Australia 15-1 and 15-9.

Following are the results of some of today's matches:

WOMEN'S SINGLES
Second Round
Rebecca Gordon (New Zealand) beat Jody Patrick (Canada) 11-1, 7-11, 11-3
Denyse Julien (Canada) beat Rayoni Head (Australia) 11-4, 11-4
Michelle Edwards (South Africa) beat Kellie Lucas (Australia) 11-4, 6-11, 11-3
Neelima Choudhary (India) beat Elizabert Cann (Jersey) 6-11, 11-6, 11-2
Tracey Hallam (England) beat Fiona Sneddon (Scotland) 11-8, 11-0
Rhona Robertson (New Zealand) beat Dilhani De Silva (Sri Lanka) 11-2, 11-3
Ng Mee Fen (Malaysia) beat Li Feng (New Zealand) 11-4, 11-3
Aparna Popat (India) beat Natasha Groves-Burke (Wales) 11-0, 11-0
Kelly Morgan (Wales) beat Dishanti Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) 11-0, 11-1
Rebecca Pantaney (England) beat Kirsteen Mcewan (Scotland) 11-1, 11-8
Gibson Anne (Scotland) beat Gail Osborne (Wales) 11-3, 11-0
Woon Sze Mei (Malaysia) beat P.V.V. Lakshmi (India) 8-11, 11-1, 11-3
Zarinah Abdullah (Singapore) beat Michaela Smith (Australia) 11-2, 11-1
Julia Mann (England) beat Law Pei Pei (Malaysia) 9-11, 11-7, 11-1
Manjusha Kanwar (India) beat Charmaine Reid (Canada) 11-6, 11-6

Third Round
Ng Mee Fen (Malaysia) beat Michelle Edwards (South Africa) 11-2, 11-2
Julia Mann (England) beat Manjsuha Kanwar (India) 4-11, 11-3, 11-3
Anne Gibson (Scotland) beat Amanda Carter (New Zealand) 13-10, 11-3
Aparna Popat (India) beat Rebecca Pataney (England) 11-4, 11-8
Zarinah Abdullah (Singapore) beat Rebecca Gordon (New Zealand) 11-8, 11-6
Rhona Robertson (New Zealand) beat Woon Sze Mei (Malaysia) 11-2, 11-3
Kelly Morgan (Wales) Neelima Choudary (India) 11-3, 11-1
Tracey Hallam (England) beat Denyse Julien (Canada) 8-11, 11-7, 11-2

MEN'S DOUBLES
First Round
Geraint Lewis/Mathew Hughes (Wales) beat Lau Kim Pong/Tan Sian Peng (Singapore) - walkover
Mubanga Kaite/Stanley Mwangulu (Zambia) beat Alexander Ayim/Charles Mensah (Ghana) 10-15, 15-5, 15-11

Second Round
Geraint Lewis/Mathew Hughes (Wales) beat Ali Yar Neg/Wajid Ali (Pakistan) 15-6, 15-5
Mark Nicholas/Murray Hocking (Australia) beat Andre Stewart/Charles Pyne (Jamaica) 15-1,15-6
Nathan Robertson/Julian Robertson (England) beat Charles Williams/Anthony Arthur (Ghana) - walkover David Bamford/Peter Blackburn (Australia) beat Zailani Yuin/Ermadena Talip (Brunei) 15-6, 15-0
Duminda Jayakody/Tushara Edrisinghe (Sri Lanka) beat Mubanga Kaite/Stanley Mwangulu (Zambia) 15-2, 15-3
Yap Kim Hock/Cheah Soon Kit (Malaysia) beat Burty James Molia/Ryan Clyde Fong (Fiji) 15-2, 15-1
Christopher Hunt/Simon Archer (England) beat Gavin Polmans/Neale Woodroffe (South Africa) - walkover
Geenesh Dussain/Stephan Beeharry (Mauritius) beat Sheldon Caldeira/Darron Dasent (Trinidad-Tobago) 15-3, 15-4
Russell Hogg/kenneth Middlemiss (Scotland) beat Mark Topping/Bruce Topping (Northern Ireland) 15-12, 15-12
Vincent Lobo/Ismail Jaseel (India) beat Ahmed Riyaz/Mohamed Sharath(Maldives) 15-2, 15-0
Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah (Malaysia) beat Darryl Yung/Iain Sydie (Canada) 15-5, 17-14
Denis Constantin/Edouard Clarisse (Mauritius) beat Roy Paul/Robert Richards (Jamaica) 11-15, 15-5, 15-6
Craig Robertson/Alastair Gatt (Scotland) beat Mohd Fadzli/Michael Nyau (Brunei) - walkover
Markose Bristow/George Thomas (India) beat Dean Galt/Daniel Shirley (New Zealand) 17-14, 7-15, 15-8
Nicholas Hall/Antonio Gargiulo (New Zealand) beat Janaka De Silva/Palinda Halangoda (Sri Lanka) 15-4, 17-14
Michael Beres/Bryan Moody (Canada) beat Eugene Mckenna/Graham Henderson (Northern Ireland) 15-11, 11-15, 15-12

MEN'S SINGLES
Third Round
Richard Vaughan (Wales) beat Michael Beres (Canada) 15-7, 15-6
Ali Yar Beg (Pakistan) beat Charles William (Ghana) 15-6, 15-6
Nikhil Kanetkar (India) beat James Mailer (Scotland) 15-5, 15-4
Stuart Arthur (Canada) beat Rae Mun Ong (Australia) 15-10, 15-10
Wong Choon Hann (Malaysia) beat Michael Watt (Northern Ireland) 15-6, 15-9
Geofrey Bellingham (New Zealand) beat Amran Kambar (Brunei) 15-2, 15-2
Geraint Lewis (Wales) beat Neale Woodroff (South Africa) 15-4, 14-4
Darren Hall (England) beat Sampath Fernando (Sri Lanka) 15-6, 15-5
Nicholas Hall (New Zealand) beat Wajid Ali (Pakistan) 15-3, 15-3
Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia) beat Abhinshyam Gupta (India) 15-4, 15-4
Gopi Chand Pullela (India) beat Peter Knowles (England) 15-11, 15-13

MIXED DOUBLES
Second Round
Dean Galt/Tammy Jenkins (New Zealand) beat Yap Kim Hock/Law Pei Pei (Malaysia) 15-12, 15-11
Christoper Hunt/Donna Kellogg (England) beat Bruce Topping/Clair Henderson (Northern Ireland) 15-4, 15-4
Mark Nichols/Kate Wilson Smith (Australia) beat Paul Roy/Terry Leyow (Jamaica) 15-5, 15-4
Nathan Robertson/Joanne Davis (England) beat Anton Kriel/Michelle Edwards (South Africa) 15-2, 15-1
Iain Sydie/Denyse Julien (Canada) beat Darren Le Tissier/Sally Wood (Guernsey) 15-3, 15-1
Peter Blackburn/Rhonda Cator (Australia) beat Alastair Gatt/Kirsteen McEwan (Scotland) 15-9, 15-11
Geoffrey Bellingham/Rebecca Gordon (New Zealand) beat Denis Constantin/Anusha Dajee(Mauritius) 15-12, 15-0
Wong Choon Hann/Chor Hooi Yee (Malaysia) beat Andrew Groves-Burke/Robin Ashworth (Wales) 15-2, 15-4
Markose Bristow/Archana Deodhar (India) beat Andre Stewart/Nigella Saunders (Jamaica) 17-16, 15-6
Daniel Shirley/Sheree Jefferson (New Zealand) beat Stuart Arthur/Cindy Arthur (Canada) 15-12, 15-2
Darryl Yung/Robbyn Hermitage (Canada) beat Rusell Hogg/Alexis Blanchflower (Scotland) 15-1, 15-11
Simon Archer/Joanne Goode (England) beat Darron Charles/Beverly Tang (Trinidad-Tobago) 15-2, 15-2
Cheah Soon Kit/Joanne Quay (Malaysia) beat Gavin Polmans/Monique Ric Hansen (South Africa) - walkover
Bryan Moody/Milaine Cloutier (Canada) beat Vincent Lobo/Madhumita Bisht (India) 15-13, 8-15, 15-5

WOMEN'S DOUBLES
Third Round
Norhashikin Mohd. Amin/Joanne Quay (Malaysia) beat Michaela Smith/Kate Wilson-Smith (Australia) 15-1, 15-9
Sandra Watt/Elinor Middlemiss (Scotland) beat Archana Deodhar/Manjusha Kanwar (India) 5-15, 15-6, 15-11
Joanne Goode/Donna Kellogg (England) beat Katy Howell/Gail Osborne (Wales) 15-5, 15-3
Charmaine Reid/Denyse Julien (Canada) beat Nicole Gordon/Sheree Jefferson (New Zealand) 15-13, 15-5
Tammy Jenkins/Rhona Robertson (New Zealand) beat Nigella Saunders/Terry Leyow (Jamaica) 15-5, 15-7
Sara Sankey/Joanne Davis (England) beat Natasha Groves-Burke/Robin Ashworth (Wales) 15-6, 15-1

(aplayer/dsimmons)