OLYMPICS: BADMINTON - DAY 7 MORNING RESULTS OLYMPIC QUEEN SUSI DETHRONED - DONG A MEN'S SINGLES FINALIST July 30, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - Susi Susanti of Indonesia, the 1992 women's singles gold medalist in Barcelona and the preeminent lady shuttler of the modern era, lost her chance at a repeat gold when she was defeated by Bang Soo Hyun of Korea 11-9 and 11-8 in a semifinal match this morning. Bang was the silver medalist and runner-up to Susanti in Barcelona. Susanti played an erratic game while her opponent made very few mistakes. Susanti was also affected by a string on her racket breaking during a crucial point in the match. The victory by Bang puts her as the odds-on favorite in the women's singles finals against the teenaged prodigy from Indonesia, Mia Audina. Audina booked her place in the finals by defeating Kim Ji Hyun of Korea 11-6, 9-11 and 11-1. Audina won the first game with some ease. In the second game, she quickly fell behind the determined Korean 5-0. Audina fought back but Kim held on to her lead to win 11-9. In the decider, Audina picked up the pace while the Korean wilted under the Indonesian's pressure, managing to score only one point. Audina's win assures her and Indonesia of at least a silver medal in the women's singles and a possible gold. Susanti and Kim will face each other in a playoff for the bronze medal. In men's singles, Dong Jiong of China, seeded 3/4 in the competition but ranked first in the world currently, defeated Rashid Sidek of Malaysia, seeded 5/8 and conqueror of topseed Joko Suprianto, in a semifinal matchup to guarantee himself a silver medal and a place in the finals. In the first game, Dong was the easy victor 15-6. In the second, Dong went through one of his seemingly frequent lapses of concentration while Sidek dug deep into his reserves and improved his shot accuracy as well as his defense against the deceptive jumping strokes of the Chinese player. The two battled to a 13-all tie and a tense 5-point tiebreaker or setting before Dong finally won 18-16 (5-3 in the tiebreaker). Dong's opponent in the finals will be the winner of the match between Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, a 3/4 seed and the current world champion, and Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark, the second seed and two-time winner of the prestigious All-England championships. The Arbi-Hoyer semifinal will be played later today. Women's - Semifinals (July 30, 1996) AUDINA, Mia (5) - Indonesia beat KIM Ji Hyun (5) - Korea 11-6, 9-11, 11-1 BANG Soo Hyun (3) - Korea beat SUSANTI, Susi (2) - Indonesia 11-9, 11-8 Men's Singles - Semifinals (July 30, 1996) DONG Jiong (3) -China beat SIDEK, Rashid (5) - Malaysia 15-6, 18-16 ARBI, Heryanto (3) - Indonesia versus HOYER-LARSEN, Poul-Erik (2) - Denmark (match to be played later today) COPYRIGHT 1996 by d.shuttlenws@genie.com. PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute.