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GRAND PRIX FINALS: YONG TOPS HENDRAWAN; GAINS SEMIS

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS report is presented by YANG YANG Badminton Products and their Western USA agents BADMINTON ALLEY. **

February 26, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia topped Indonesia's Hendrawan in a sensational comeback today to gain a spot in the men's singles semifinals of the Baiduri World Grand Prix Finals of badminton being held this week in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. Yong had no answer to Hendrawan's netshot-jumpsmash combinations in the opening set and was soundly thrashed 2-15.

In the second, Hendrawan's tactics and combinations were working so well that the Indonesian was quite quickly close to victory and a possible semifinal berth as the qualifier from Group C with the score at 13-2. However, his fine touch deserted him at this juncture and Yong began an incredible comeback. With the audience cheering and howling approval at each winning rally, the Malaysian scored 13 straight points to win the second game 15-13.

Yong only needed to win one set in his match against Hendrawan to ensure his spot in the semifinals, while Hendrawan had to win decisively in two. With his hopes for a semifinal berth gone, Hendrawan no longer seemed to have the same fire in his game during the decider. He seemed to have even less fire when Dong Jiong of China completed a rout of Dutch player Jeroen Van Dijk on the other court 15-4 and 15-2 to take second place in Group C, while the decider was in progress. Yong then took the decider 15-7.

Top seed Peter Gade of Denmark also gained the semifinals when he beat Chen Gang of China 15-6 and 15-7 in a Group A matchup. Second seed Sun Jun of China qualified out of Group D with a victory over Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark 15-8 and 15-5.

In Group B, Luo Yigang of China defeated a sick Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia 15-4 and 15-1. Ong was reported to be running a fever, caused by an infected insect bite and was taken to a hospital after the match.

Despite his defeat, Ong qualified for the semifinals by virtue of his win over Heryanto Arbi yesterday. Ong and Arbi, a 12-15, 15-8 and 15-6 winner over Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark today, were tied at the top of Group B with 2 wins and 1 loss each, with the tiebreaker going Ong's way as the winner in his match with Arbi.

In women's singles, Group B seed Mia Audina of Indonesia failed to make the semifinals when she was defeated by Zhang Ning of China in a three-setter 11-2, 9-11 and 11-3. Group C seed Camilla Martin of Denmark was also upended. She had problems dealing with Dai Yun's lefthanded shots and with the drift, specially in the second game. She lost 11-13 and 6-11.

With their upset victories in Groups B and C, Zhang and Dai joined teammates Ye Zhaoying and Gong Zhichao in the semifinals. Ye, the top-seed, qualified out of Group A, while Gong, the second seed, captured the semifinal spot out of Group D.

In mixed doubles, the red-hot English pair of Simon Archer and Joanne Goode took first place in Group B. They defeated Janek Roos and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark 15-6, 6-15 and 15-5 for their third victory in the round-robin stage. Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesian took second place and one of the semifinal spots when they beat Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark 15-6 and 15-7.

Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min of Korea won Group A, beating top seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-12, 3-15 and 15-8 in a matchup of top teams. Both pairs had already made certain their semifinal berths yesterday with their second victory each.

The unofficial summary of today's results:

Men's Singles
Group A - Rashid Sidek (Malaysia) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 15-12, 13-15, 15-6; Peter Gade (Denmark) beat Chen Gang (China) 15-6, 15-7 (Gade wins Group A with 3 wins and no defeats)
Group B - Heryanto Arbi (Indonesia) beat Kenneth Jonassen (Denmark) 12-15, 15-8, 15-6; Luo Yigang (China) beat Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia) 15-4, 15-1 (Ong and Arbi finished with 2-1 records each but Ong wins Group B because he beat Arbi)
Group C - Dong Jiong (China) beat Jeroen Van Dijk (Netherland) 15-4, 15-2; Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia) beat Hendrawan (Indonesia) 2-15, 15-13, 15-7 (Dong and Yong finished with 2-1 records but Yong wins Group C because he beat Dong)
Group D - Budi Santoso (Indonesia) beat Roslin Hashim (Malaysia) 15-11, 11-15, 15-11; Sun Jun (China) beat Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Denmark) 15-8, 15-5 (Sun wins Group D with a 3-0 record)

Women's Singles
Group A - Ye Zhaoying (China) beat Karolina Ericsson (Sweden) 11-1, 11-7 (Ye wins Group A with a 2-0 record)
Group B - Zhang Ning (China) beat Mia Audina (Indonesia) 11-2, 9-11, 11-3 (Zhang wins Group B with a 2-0 record)
Group C - Dai Yun (China) beat Camilla Martin (Denmark) 13-11, 11-6 (Dai wins Group C with a 2-0 record)
Group D - Gong Zhichao (China) beat Yasuko Mizui (Japan) 11-6, 11-1 (Gong wins Group D with a 2-0 record)

Men's Doubles
Group A - Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian (Indonesia) beat Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei (China) 15-12, 15-12; Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja (Indonesia) beat Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson (Sweden) 15-8, 15-5 (Limpele and Eng win Group A with a 3-0 record; Mainaky and Subagja take second place with a 2-1 record)
Group B - Denny Kantono and Anotnius Budi Ariantho (Indonesia) beat Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen (Denmark) 15-9, 15-6; Tony Gunawan and Heryanto Halim (Indonesia) beat Simon Archer and Chris Hunt (England) 15-10, 15-2 (Kantono-Ariantho and Gunawan-Halim finished with 2-1 records; Kantono- Ariantho win Group B because they beat Gunawan-Halim; Gunawan-Halim take second place)

Women's Doubles
Group A - Joanne Goode and Donna Kellogg (England) beat Haruko Matsuda and Yoshiko Iwata (Japan) 15-11, 15-5; Ge Fei and Gu Jun (China) beat Ann Jorgensen and Majken Vange (Denmark) 15-3, 15-8 (Ge-Gu win Group A with a 3-0 record; Jorgensen-Vange take second place with a 2-1 record)
Group B - Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei (China) beat Pernille Harder and Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) 15-6, 10-15, 15-8; Marlene Thomsen and Rikke Olsen (Denmark) beat Deyana Lomban and Eliza Nathanael (Indonesia) by walkover (Thomsen-Olsen win Group B with a 3-0 record; Huang-Yang take second place with a 2-1 record)

Mixed Doubles
Group A - Jon Holst-Christensen and Ann Jorgensen (Denmark) beat Quinten Van Dalm and Nicole Van Hooren (Netherland) 11-15, 15-4, 15-3; Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min (Korea) beat Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen (Denmark) 15-12, 3-15, 15-8 (Kim-Ra win Group A with a 3-0 record; Sogaard-Olsen take second place with a 2-1 record)
Group B - Simon Archer and Joanne Goode (England) beat Janek Roos and Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) 15=6, 6-15, 15-5; Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur (Indonesia) beat Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen (Denmark) 15-6, 15-7 (Archer-Goode win Group B with a 3-0 record; Heryanto-Timur take second place with a 2-1 record)

The unofficial semifinal matchups:

Men's Singles - Gade vs Ong; Sun vs Yong
Women's Singles - Ye vs Zhang; Gong vs Dai
Men's Doubles - Limpele and Eng vs Gunawan and Halim; Kantono and Ariantho vs Mainaky and Subagja
Women's Doubles - Ge and Gu vs Huang and Yang; Olsen and Thomsen vs Jorgensen and Vange
Mixed Doubles - Kim and Ra vs Heryanto and Timur; Archer and Hunt vs Sogaard and Olsen

(jpf/ds)

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