Soni beats top seed Wei in Hyderabad<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Hyderabad, India<\/p>\n
Two-time champion Soni Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia upset top
\nranked Wei Ng of Hong Kong 15-3, 15-11 on Saturday for reach the
\nmen's singles final at the Asian Badminton Championship.<\/p>\n
The seventh seed, Asian title winner in 2002 and 2003, will
\nplay second-seeded Kuan Beng Hong in Sunday's final after the
\nMalaysian saw off third-seeded South Korean Lee Hyun-il 15-11,
\n15-4.<\/p>\n
Women's singles top seed Chen Wang brought smiles back to the
\nHong Kong squad as she cruised past sixth-seeded Cheng Shao-chieh
\nof Taiwan 11-8, 11-2 to enter the final.<\/p>\n
Chen's title contest will be against third-seeded Kaori Mori
\nof Japan, who defeated second-seeded compatriot Hirose Eriko 11-
\n5, 5-11, 13-10 in the other semifinal.<\/p>\n
Soni banked on his sound defense to ward off the attacking
\nWei, using his accurate strokes to sprint to a 7-0 lead. Wei
\ncould do little as the Indonesian grabbed seven more consecutive
\npoints to clinch the opening game.<\/p>\n
In the second game, Soni recovered from a 4-5 deficit to take
\na 12-5 lead before the top-seeded Wei waged a late rally. Wei
\nnarrowed the gap to 11-12, but could not stop his opponent from
\nsecuring passage into the title round.<\/p>\n
\"I was confident of doing well against Wei and anticipated his
\nshots well,\" said Soni, 21. \"But he dramatically increased the
\npace in the second game. That confused me for a while before I
\nadjusted to it.\"<\/p>\n
Soni also upset fourth seeded Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, the
\nplayer he beat for the Olympic bronze medal in Athens, to storm
\nin the last eight on Friday night.<\/p>\n
He fought back after dropping the first game to stun the Thai
\nnumber one 11-15, 15-4, 15-11.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soni-beats-top-seed-wei-in-hyderabad-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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