Susi's recovers to beat China's Zen Yaqiong
Susi's recovers to beat China's Zen Yaqiong
GLASGOW, Scotland (Agencies): Former champion Susi Susanti of Indonesia, making probably her last appearance in the World Badminton Championships, rallied from a game down and 3-6 down in the second to beat young Chinese Zen Yaqiong.
Susi's 3-11, 12-9, 11-3 win, achieved with the benefit of experience and a calm head on a day when she was not playing well, gained her a semifinals meeting with the second-seeded Chinese, Gong Zichao.
"It took me a long time to get my game together today," Susi said, "but I was not unduly worried. When I found the second game also slipping away, I decided that I would not attack, but concentrated on playing steadily, and the tactic worked.
"Even when she was on top, the Chinese girl had done a lot of running and she got tired ... I knew she would. Then it was easy in the third game. Now I must make sure that I go into my next match better prepared mentally."
At the last eight stage, the women's singles has turned into an all-Asian affair, the line-up including five Chinese and two Indonesians.
One quarterfinal in each half is an all-Chinese affair, which ensures them a place in both of today's semifinals.
RCTI will broadcast live the semifinals at 8 p.m. Western Indonesian Time today.
China's other top seed, Ye Zhoaying, suffered no mishaps. The defending world champion beat Indonesia's Cindana 15-4,15-1, which means Ye has conceded only 13 points in three matches and six games.
The champion's next opponent is compatriot Dai Yun, seeded 15th, who caused a minor upset by bringing down eighth-seeded South Korean Ra Kyung-min in straight games.
The other women's singles quarterfinal in the top half will be between Indonesia's third-seeded Olympic silver medalist Mia Audina, and the China's sixth-seeded former world junior champion Wang Chen.
The last non-Asian challenger, Denmark's Camilla Martin, who was seeded four, lost 3-11, 11-7, 11-7 in a long, tense battle with tenth-seeded Chinese Han Jingna.
A disappointed Martin said "I am so upset, I think I will give up the game."
She said that being the last non-Asian contender in tournament after tournament always had her under a lot of pressure.
Arbi
Meanwhile Indonesia's world champion Heryanto Arbi can see an unexpected route to the final for the second successive time.
The Indonesian whose year has been dogged by injury feels his luck may at last be changing after a win over sixth-seeded Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock and the withdrawal through illness of the favorite Dong Jiong.
Arbi showed few signs of the back injury which caused his long lay-off or of the ring-rustiness which has affected recent performances, in beating Ong 15-12, 15-8.
He scored well with round-the-head smashes as usual, and played with encouraging consistency against an opponent who came back strongly from 2-9 to 12-14 in the first game but faded in the second half of the second.
It earned Arbi a meeting not with the formidable Dong but with the Dane Thomas Stuer, a bronze medalist last time.
Stuer came through with a walkover because Dong, the top- seeded All-England champion had to withdraw with a temperature of 40 degrees, which him in hospital briefly.
It was a conspicuous reversal of fortune for Stuer, who appeared to be on the way to the final last time two years ago in Lausanne when he was suffered a serious ankle injury in the second game of his semifinal with Park.
With Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen gaining an unexpected entry, thanks to the withdrawal of Dong and Peter Rasmussen surprising Indra Wijaya, Denmark won representation in all four of the men's singles quarterfinals.
Rasmussen beat Indra Wijaya 15-8, 8-15, 15-1, and afterwards gave credit to Zhang Lian-Ying, the Copenhagen-based Chinese coach who has been training him for the last four years.
Zhang told Rasmussen between the second and third games to relax and enjoy the match, for he had been conspicuously intense while losing last week's encounter with South Korea's Park Soo- wung, costing Denmark a place in the Sudirman Cup final.
The advice appeared to work at once. Rasmussen's ability to project smashes in different directions with disguises which keep opponents rooted fluently reappeared and he romped away with the third game.
"It was a bit too much for me to wear the whole team on my shoulders," Rasmussen said. "But it was easier for me to play for myself. I admit I lost my mind a little in the Sudirman Cup but with help from my coach I did better this time."
If he finds it so again, he could be in line for a notable revenge. Rasmussen's next meeting is with Park, who won in straight games against Indonesia's former Olympic champion Alan Budikusuma.
Christensen
Peter Gade Christensen made the grade beating Fung Permadi, the Indonesian playing in the colors of Taipei, which was in defiance of the seedings.
Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen qualified with a straight-games win over Luo Yigang. He now plays Indonesian Joko Suprianto, who used to be his bogey.
"Playing as I did today, I feel confident of beating Joko, the Dane said. "I was very satisfied. I was relaxed and calm. In that mode, I could vary my game as I liked and wait for my chances to put on the pressure."
But Hoyer Larsen said "all of us Danes were riding high today, which makes me hope that we might get an all-Danish final for a change."