Ye: What happened to me?
World No.1 knocked out in badminton
Posted: Tuesday December 15, 1998 12:59 PM
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- World badminton champion Ye Zhaoying of China suffered a shock defeat to Japan's Yonekura Kanako as three of the top four seeds fell in the women's singles quarterfinals at the Asian Games on Tuesday.
"I do not know what happened to me," said title favorite Ye, who won a gold in the teams event here. "I just couldn't concentrate."
With Indonesian rival Susi Susanti out of the tournament Ye was expected to have an easy run into the final.
She got off to an excellent start with a 11-0 win in the first game but then became too defensive and made several vital mistakes. Yonekura rallied back twice in the next two games to win 13-10 and 11-9 after being behind 8-10 and 5-9.
Gong Zhichao of China was the only seeded player surviving into the semis. Gong, the No.2 seed, outclassed Ng Mee-Fen from Malaysia 11-7, 11-3.
No.3 seed Mia Audina of Indonesia and No.4 seed Kim Ji-Hyun of South Korea both lost in straight games. Audina fell to Lee Joo-Hyun of South Korea, while Eakmongkolpaisarn of Thailand beat Kim to become the first Thai to make a Games semifinal.
China's mixed doubles champions Liu Yong and Ge Fei were also dumped out of medal contention, losing 15-7, 15-6 to the world's No.2 pair Gartabti Ttikus and Timur Minarti of Indonesia.
In men's singles, No.1 Sun Jun of China beat Ahn Jae-Chang of South Korea 15-9, 17-14.
No. 2 seed Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia also advanced to the semifinals with a 15-7, 15-4 win over India's Gopichand Pullela, but said he needed to improve.
"I am not in top condition. Maybe because I have been playing in too many tournaments," Hock Kin said.
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