August 3, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 4, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

BIRMINGHAM (England), Aug 2: Chen Hong of China and Wang Chen of Hong Kong, the two top singles seeds, both went out in the quarterfinals on a day of shocks in the world championships on Friday.

By far the bigger of them was the demise of Chen, a winner of the All-England title in this arena last year, who held a match point for a straight games win and was beaten 5-15, 17-14, 15-9 by Shon Seung-Mo, the 13th seeded South Korean.

Even more surprisingly the 23-year-old from Kyungnam did it despite needing extensive icing on an injured left knee during the five minute interval between the second and third games.

Nor did Shon have anything like the attacking weapons of Chen, whose steep angles and spectacular jump smash are amongst the most devastating in the sport. Chen appeared be cruising when he led by a game and 13-8.

But he appeared to take his foot off the pedal a little, and Shon kept beavering away diligently with fast jabs and early net shots and the occasional unexpected attempt at a kill.

He crept up to 14-13 and after Chen missed his match point, the favourite’s game began to grow surprisingly ragged.

He lost a point at 14-15 when he put the racket over the net while trying to make a comfortable kill, and missed an even easier chance to put the shuttle away at 14-16, which cost him the second game.

In the third game Chen was rarely himself, until it was too late. He made mistake after mistake, while Shon’s standard rose, and he scored well withjabs to the body and unexpected jump smashes.

At 5-14, Chen started to play again, which suggested he had been tense. He began to play with more accuracy, knocking the shuttle about and making Shon move, and saving four match points.

A glimmer of a spectacular recovery was just emerging when Shon finished it off with a jab which Chen tried to switch across court and put into the net.

“I feel like I’m flying in the sky,” said Shon , who now plays the ninth seeded Commonwealth champion from Malaysia Wong Choon Hann.

Earlier Zhou Mi, the fifth seeded All-England champion from China, caused the women’s singles upset by beating the Wang Chen, a former compatriot who now represents Hong Kong.

But this was really an upset in name only. Wang did not regard herself as the favourite because she had never beaten Zhou, although she came much closer than before, with a 11-6, 5-11, 11-4 scoreline.

Earlier Camilla Martin’s hopes of winning back the women’s singles title in her last world championship before retirement collapsed dramatically in the quarter-finals.

The 1999 world champion lost the last 16 points in a row to Zhang Ning, the second seeded Chinese player, who exacted a terrible revenge for a defeat in Tokyo in April when Martin won the Japan Open. This time the Dane was beaten 11-6, 11-0.

From 6-8 down in the first game she had no answer to the puzzling maze of parabolas which Zhang created with flicks, lifts, clears and drops. player in the tournament and should go on to win the world title.

In fact only three of the semifinal places are filled by Chinese women, with he titleholder Gong Ruina playing the All-England Open champion Zhou Mi in the top half.

Gong beat her compatriot Xie Xinfang, the All-England runner-up, by 13-11, 11-4 in a match of delicate skills. The fourth place is filled by Mia Audina, the former Indonesian star who now represents The Netherlands.

Results:

Quarterfinals:

Men’s singles: Shon Seung-Mo (KOR) bt Chen Hong (CHN 5-15, 17-14, 15-9; Xia Xuanze (CHN) bt Kenneth Jonassen (DEN) 17-14, 12-15, 15-10; Wong Choon Hann (MAS) bt Sony Kwi Kuncoro (INA) 15-8, 15-5; Bao Chunlai (CHN) bt Muhammad Roslin Hashim (MAS) 15-7, 15-10

Women’s singles: Mia Audina Tjiptawan (INA) bt Kanako Yonejura (JPN) 11-5, 11-0; Zhou Mi (CHN) bt Wang Chen (HKG) 11-6, 5-11, 11-4; Gong Ruina (CHN) bt Xie Xinfang (CHN) 13-11, 11-4; Zhang Ning (CHN) bt Camilla Martin (DEN) 11-6, 11-0

Men’s doubles: Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng (CHN) bt Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen (DEN 15-13, 15-8; Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen (DEN) bt Tesana Panvisvas/Pramote Teerawiwatana (THA) 15-2, 15-12; Sang Yang/Zheng Bo (CHN) bt Chang Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng (MAS) 7-15, 15-3, 15-11; Sigit Budiarto/Candra Wijaya (INA) bt Cheng Rui/Wang Wei (CHN) 15-3,15-3

Women’s doubles: Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting (CHN) bt Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita (INA) 15-3, 15-10; Ann-Lou Jorgensen/Rikke Olsen (DEN) bt Chikako Nakayama/Keiko Yoshitomi (JPN) 15-2, 8-15, 15-7; Seiko Yamada/Shizuka Yamamoto (JPN) bt Mia Audina/Lotte Jonathans (NED) 15-9, 15-8; Gao Ling/Huang Sui (CHN) bt Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (CHN) 15-11, 15-2.

Mixed doubles: Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (CHN) bt Kim Yong-Hyun/Lee Hyo-Jung (KOR) 15-6, 15-1; Jonas Rasmussen/Rikke Olsen (DEN) bt Anggun Nugroho/Eny Widiowati (INA) 15-1, 15-7; Kim Dong-Moon/Ra Kyung-Min (KOR) bt Lars Paaske/Pernille Harder (DEN) 15-8, 15-1; Chen Qiuqiu/Zhao Tingting (CHN) bt Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (ENG) 15-11, 15-9.—AFP