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BIRMINGHAM (England), March 9: Denmark’s Camilla Martin kept the European flag flying at the All England badminton championships Friday with a gutsy 7-5 1-7 7-4 7-2 quarter-final victory over Chinese number two seed Zhang Ning.
Martin, world champion in 1999 but seeded only five here, had too much guile for her opponent who struggled to find any fluency.
The Dane is the only European left in the men’s or women’s singles and again finds herself carrying the banner against the might of Asia.
In the men’s singles, five of the last eight are Chinese, with the others coming from South Korea, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
In the women’s last eight, five were from China, with Martin, a South Korean and a player from Hong Kong completing the line-up.
Results
MEN’S SINGLES
Budi Santoso (Indonesia) bt Agus Hariyanto (Hong Kong) 7-3 7-2 7-1; 2-Chen Hong (China) bt Luo Yigang (China) 6-8 7-3 7-4 7-5;
Bao Chuniai (China) bt Chen Yu (China) 7-3 7-4 6-8 7-1;
Lin Dan (China) bt Shon Seung-mo (South Korea) 4-7 7-6 8-6 7-2
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Zhou Mi (China) bt Kim Kyeung-ran (South Korea) 7-1 4-7 7-0 7-0; Camilla Martin (Denmark) bt 2-Zhang Ning (China) 7-5 1-7 7-4 7-2; Gong Ruina (China) bt Xie Xingfang (China) 7-3 7-3 7-2;
Dai Yun (China) beat 4-Wang Chen (Hong Kong) 7-2 7-3 7-2.—Reuters
