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Japan Open: Gade, Sun Jun To Battle In Finale

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

April 10, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Peter Gade of Denmark and Sun Jun of China, currently the two best badminton men's singles players in the world, will be battling each other for top honors at the Japan Open championships tomorrow afternoon at the Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. Gade, the world number one, beat Malaysia's Wong Choon Hann 15-8 and 15-12 in one of today's semifinal matches to book a place in the championship match, while Sun Jun, the current World Grand Prix Finals champion, put out teammate Chen Hong 15-9 and 15-12.

Gade was in command of the first game of his match with Wong, but faltered early in the second set when the Malaysian scored 4 points in a row to inch ahead 4-3. After that string of points from Wong, Gade got his strokes and footwork back in order and quickly regained the lead. He then raced to a 9-4 advantage. The Malaysian tried to claw his way back but Gade was able to fend off a late surge from Wong to win the set 15-12.

In mixed doubles, Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China, the reigning world champions, served notice that they are readying a strong defense of their world title when they upended the top-seeds and World Grand Prix Finals champions Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min of Korea 15-9 and 15-11.

In the men's doubles semifinals, two Korean pairs upset their favoured Indonesian opponents. Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung surprised second-seeds Antonius Ariantho and Denny Kantono 15-12 and 15-12, and the pair of Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon squeezed past recent All England winners Tony Gunawan and Chandra Wijaya 17-15, 3-15 and 15-11.

Following are the unofficial results of today's semifinal matches (number before player name indicates seeding):

Men's Singles
1-Peter Gade (Denmark) beat 11-Wong Choon Hann (Malaysia) 15-8, 15-12
4-Sun Jun (China) beat 15-Chen Hong (China) 15-9, 15-12

Women's Singles
7-Gong Zhichao (China) beat Kim Ji Hyun (Korea) 11-0, 11-6
3-Ye Zhaoying (China) beat 2-Gong Ruina (China) 11-5, 11-6

Men's Doubles
Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon (Korea) beat 5-Tony Gunawan and Chandra Wijaya (Indonesia) 17-15, 3-15, 15-11
Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung (KOrea) beat 2-Antonius Ariantho and Denny Kantono (Indonesia) 15-12, 15-12

Women's Doubles
1-Yang Wei and Huang Nanyan (China) beat Ra Kyung Min and Chung Jae Hee (Korea) 15-7, 7-15, 15-9
2-Ge Fei and Gu Jun (China) beat 6-Zhou Mi and Gong Ruina (China) 15-5, 15-3

Mixed Doubles
6-Liu Yong and Ge Fei (China) beat 1-Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min (Korea) 15-9, 15-11
3-Ha Tae Kwon and Chung Jae Hee (Korea) beat Zhang Jun and Yang Wei (China) 15-6, 9-15, 17-14

(apl/ds)

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