Mia struggles to beat Zhang, now faces Ye
Mia struggles to beat Zhang, now faces Ye
TOKYO (AFP): Favorite Mia Audina of Indonesia struggled hard to beat Zhang Ning yesterday and set up a semifinal meeting against another Chinese, defending champion Ye Zhaoying, at the Japan Open badminton tournament.
The Atlanta Olympic silver medalist, had to come back from one game down and 2-6 in the second to beat the fifth seed 10-12, 12- 10, 11-5 in a tough 72-minute match.
World champion Ye, seeking to put her disappointing 1996 season behind, staved off two games points in the opener before scoring a 12-11, 11-8 win over Ra Kyung-Min of South Korea.
Second-seeded Gong Zhichao of China and joint third seed Camilla Martin of Denmark set up the other semifinal match with two-game victories.
Martin, fresh from her victory at the season-opening Taipei Open last weekend, shot down South Korea's Lee Joo-Hyun 11-4, 11- 3, while Gong saw off another Korean, Kim Ji-Hyun, 11-5, 11-7.
"It was a long time ago when I played her (Zhang) last time at the 1994 Uber Cup," said Audina, 17.
"She has improved a lot and I didn't know how I should play at the beginning. When I went down 2-6 in the second game, I felt I was in a crucial situation, so I just tried to be patient and keep the shuttle in play."
Ye, who had to recover from 2-6 and 5-9 down in the first game, also said she needed some time before getting used to Ra's play.
But she had no trouble in the second game, winning six rallies in a row to finish off the 50-minute match.
"We had two big events last season and I couldn't do well, because I was too tired after practicing too hard. I felt heavy pressure. But I'm getting better and better now," said Ye, who finished fifth at the Olympics.
Men's singles
Up-and-coming Dane Peter Gade Christensen kept alive his hopes of winning a second straight title by beating Indonesian Budi Santoso to make the semifinals.
The 20-year-old, who shocked fellow Dane and Atlanta Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen last week at Taipei to win his first major title, stayed in form to beat the 11th-ranked Indonesian 9-15, 15-10, 15-8.
He will now play Park Sung-Woo of South Korea who qualified for the semifinals by beating Indra Wijaya of Indonesia 15-11, 15-6.
Indonesia's Ardy Wiranata and Alan Budikusuma, finalists at the Barcelona Olympics, clashed in another quarterfinal with Ardy, the silver medalist, winning 15-5, 15-7.
Peter Rasmussen of Denmark secured the semifinal spot against Ardy with a 15-8, 15-12 win over Jeroen van Dijk of the Netherlands.
Christensen, who eliminated second seed Rashid Sidek of Malaysia Thursday, came into his own in the second game against Budi moving the Indonesian around the court.
"When we started, I realized it was a very, very, very slow game, so I could not play my game that I've played the last one and a half weeks. I could not attack the same way with the same net shots," said Christensen.
"It was difficult for a player like me, because my mind is to attack, not to play defensive. But I'm good enough to play the slow games.
"I kept myself running and at 10-8 in the third, I said to myself 'now you are going to take the quick game back'. I did that with short serves and he was very surprised."
Three-time Japan Open champion Ardy said he was "just a bit luckier" than Alan in winning their 45-minute match.
"We always practice together and we know each other very well. The one who has a good day always win the match. Today, it was my day," said Ardy, who said he has recovered 75 percent from an illness to his liver after the Thomas Cup last year.