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Published on July 7, 2007

Some 3,000 fans left the Nimibutr Gymnasium in high spirits as the three musketeers lived up to expectations, with only Salakjit Ponsana falling by the wayside.

Fourth seed and 2004 champion Boonsak - dubbed Super Man - brushed aside his sluggish form in the opening game to halt the surprise run of South Korean qualifier Tae Sang Park 11-21 21-13 21-9 after 64 minutes. He attacked his rival with a flurry of fierce smashes to repeat his victory over the Korean here three years ago.

"I started slowly because I hadn't warmed up well. However, I came back to take control and finish off the match,'' said the local hope, who has a real test waiting for him today. His next opponent is Chinese top seed and world No 4 Jin Chen, who breezed past Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-5 21-14.

The two have met five times before, with Boonsak winning on the first two occasions. But the Chinese player has won their last three encounters since last year. That included their latest encounter in the Hong Kong Open, where Boonsak surrendered in two games.

"This will be a big match. I need to be super-solid because he can be very consistent and offensive at the same time. But making the semi-final is already an accomplishment for me and winning tomorrow will be a bonus,'' said world No 10 Boonsak, who is concerned about his fitness if he has to play three games every day.

The other semi-final sees second-seeded Hong Chen take on 10th-seeded Wei Ng of Hong Kong after the two prevailed in tough quarter-final fights. Wei needed three games to eliminate Anup Sridhar of India 19-21 21-18 21-4 and Hong was extended to three games in beating seventh seed Tsuen Seng Lee of Malaysia 22-24 21-14 21-16.

Mixed-doubles favourites Sudket and Saralee moved a step closer to their first trophy on home soil after a two-game victory over sixth-seeded Devin Lahardi Fitriawan and Lita Nurlita of Indonesia 21-16 21-17 in the quarter-finals.

The former world No-1 pair, after having to settle for the second-best position in 2004 and 2006, are determined to rewrite the script this year. But first they must clear today's semi-final hurdle - the third-seeded Chinese pair of Hanbin He and Yang Yu.

"If we play like we did today, we have a chance to beat the Chinese players. Yang is a little tougher than Hanbin, but we've never lost to her no matter who she pairs up with,'' said Sudket.

In the women's matches, Salakjit's hope of making a semi-final appearance evaporated as she succumbed to nerves and fell to Aiying Xing of Singapore 21-14 21-13.

Mi Zhou of Hong Kong caused the biggest upset in the tournament. She rallied after a second-game lapse to knock out second-seeded Huaiwen Xu of Germany 21-18 10-21 21-4.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation