MIA AUDINA INJURED IN THAI OPEN QUARTERS
by Mike Grossman (from reports filed by J. Chang and YANG YANG Badminton Equipment)

November 14, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - Indonesian women's singles star Mia Audina (Tjiptawan) injured her right knee again, this time in the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Audina, the silver medalist at the Atlanta Olympics, was playing in the first game of her quarterfinal against Ra Kyung Min of Korea when she reinjured her knee. She was leading in the early stages of the match, 5-3, when she appeared to be in some pain and started to limp around in between points.

She tried to play on but had lost her ability to move quickly around the court due to the pain. At 5-5, the pain got the better of the teenaged star player and she had to throw in the proverbial towel.

Audina had injured her knee almost a year ago and had to be out of competitive badminton for almost 6 months, returning only to help her country win the Uber Cup in May and also to win a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics. She has had to play with a bulky-looking brace to support her injured knee since she came back to the major badminton circuit.

Her compatriot, Susi Susanti, continued to be dominating at this tourney. In her quarterfinal match against Zeng Yaqiong of China, she blanked the young Chinese player in the first game and coasted to an 11-7 win in the second. Susanti will play Kim Ji Hyun of Korea in her semifinal match. (Ra Kyung Min's UNCONFIRMED semifinal opponent is Wang Chen of China).

In men's singles, top-seed Joko Suprianto of Indonesia had an easy quarterfinal match against Kim Hak Kyun of Korea. Suprianto beat the Korean lefthander 15-4 and 15-6.

Suprianto will play Rashid Sidek in the semifinals. Sidek also had an easy outing against Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark.

Although he started slowly in the first game, Sidek made up an early 0-4 deficit and beat the tall Danish player 15-7. In the second, Stuer played listlessly while Sidek put on an aggressive and energetic game to win 15-3.

Second-seed Dong Jiong of China also easily eliminated 5-8 seed Alan Budi Kusuma of Indonesia 15-3 and 15-4 to set up a semifinal match with unexpected semifinalist Soren Nielsen of Denmark, who is benefiting from the withdrawal of 3-4 seed Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia and a round-of-16 minor upset win over Indonesian Ardy Wiranata.

In men's doubles quarterfinal action, U.S. and China Open champions Sigit (Budiarto) and Chandra Wijaya of Indonesia beat Hwang Sun Ho and Lee Dong Soo of Korea 15-8 and 15-5 to take one semifinal spot.

Hometown players Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Siripong Siripool took the semifinal berth opposite the S-and-W pair with their 15-7, 15-12 quarterfinal win over Hian Eng and Hermono of Indonesia.

The other semifinal will be contested by the Malaysian team of Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook and the Korean duo of Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin. Lee and Choong upset the second-seeds, Tony Gunawan and Rudy Wijaya of Indonesia, 15-11 and 15-8, in their quarterfinal match, while Ha and Kang won a battle with Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson of Sweden, 10-15, 15-2 and 15-10.

In women's doubles, one semifinal match will feature the pairs of Denyana Lomban and Isoliana Indarti (Indonesia), and Tang Yongshu and Qin Yiyuan (China). (The names of the other semifinalists were not available).

In mixed doubles, Indonesians Trikus Heryanto and Minartin Timur defeated Kang Kyung Jin and Kim Mee Hyang of Korea, 15-8 and 15-12, in a semifinal matchup.

In the other semifinal, Nimpele Flandy and Rosalina Riseu beat Christian Jakobsen and Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark, 15-4 and 15-4, to set up an all-Indonesian final.