Van Dijk reaches semis with another upset

Van Dijk reaches semis with another upset

ORANGE, California (Reuter): For the second consecutive day Dutchman Jeroen van Dijk upset one of the world's top 10 players at the U.S. Open Badminton Championships.

The 24th-ranked van Dijk scored a 15-9 15-5 victory over world number 10 Hermawan Susanto of Indonesia in Thursday's quarterfinals at the Orange County Badminton Club.

On Wednesday, van Dijk eliminated reigning world champion Peter Rasmussen of Denmark, who is ranked fifth in the world.

The Rotterdam resident will face fellow Dane Peter Gade- Christensen in Friday's semifinals.

Gade-Christensen beat Alan Budi Kusuma of Indonesia 17-18 15-2 17-14 to earn his final four berth.

In women's singles, the top four seeds, led by Camilla Martin of Denmark, all moved safely into the semifinals.

Of the top four, only third seed Han Jingna of China dropped a game in her quarterfinal before disposing of Takako Ida of Japan.

Deficit

In his first game against Susanto, van Dijk recovered from an 8-6 deficit to score the next five points.

Susanto narrowed the margin to 11-9, but van Dijk won by scoring five points on his final serve.

In the second game, van Dijk used drop shots at the net to keep Susanto off-balance and build a 7-0 lead.

"He always challenges you to attack," van Dijk said. "He's sort of waiting for that. I realized that I was attacking too much, so I went to more net play. I think that made the match."

Results

Men's singles, quarterfinals: Peter Gade-Christensen (Den) bt Alan Budi Kusuma (Ina) 17-18 15-2 17-14 Jeroen van Dijk (Ndl) bt Hermawan Susanto (Ina) 15-9 15-5 Luo Yigang (Chn) bt Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen (Den) 15-11 15-7 Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Den) bt Marleve Mainaky (Ina) 15-9 15-6

Women's singles, quarterfinals: Camilla Martin (Den) bt Kelly Morgan (Wal) 11-4 11-5 Dai Yun (Chn) bt Cindy Shi (USA) 12-10 11-2 Han Jingna (Chn) bt Takako Ida (Jpn) 10-12 11-2 11-2 Marina Andrievskaya (Swe) bt Mette Pedersen (Den) 11-0 11-4

Mixed doubles, quarterfinals: Chris Hunt/Donna Kellogg (Gbr) bt Iain Sydie/Denyse Julien (Can) 15-2 15-7 Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Kor) bt Luo Yigang/Qin Yiyuan (Chn) 15-5 15-9 Bambang Suprianto/Rosalina Riseu (Ina) bt Chen Gang/Tang Yongshu (China) 4-15 15-11 15-10 Simon Archer/Jo Davies (Britain) beat 2-Peter Axelsson/Catrine Bengtsson (Sweden) 15-10 15-6