Soni knocks out top-seeded Wei to enter men's final<\/p>\n
Associated Press
\nHyderabad, 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>\n
In the men's doubles, second seeded Markis Kido and Hendra
\nSetiawan of Indonesia came through two close 15-13 games oer
\nsecond fourth seeded Tan Bin Shen and Ong Soon Hock of Malaysia.<\/p>\n
However, top seeded South Koreans Lee Jae-jin and Jung Jae-
\nsung stopped an all-Indonesian final by overcoming eight seeded
\nHendra Gunawan and Joko Riyadi.<\/p>\n
In the women's doubles, both Indonesian pairs lost.
\nLee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung, the top seeds from, South Korea,
\nromped past Lita Nurlita and Natalia Poluakan 15-5, 15-12.<\/p>\n
Japan's third seeded Kumako Ogura and Reiko Shiota defeated Jo
\nNovita and Greysia Polii, Indonesia, 15-10, 15-4.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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