Golds topples sixth seed Zhou, Basuki/Tedjakusuma reach back to back final

Sixth seed Zhou Yi-Miao of China became the only seeded player who was beaten while three other seeds through into semi-finals at “ITF Gimhae International Women’s Circuit” in Gimhae, South Korea on Friday (June 5, 2009). This time it was Aussie Shannon Golds who surprised Zhou as she demonstrated strong fighting spirit and secured her semi-final berth with 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Zhou. 22 years old Golds has been steadily improving her performance over three weeks. In the first week at Incheon 25K, as qualifier Golds instantly crashed out in the first round, then at Goyang 25K, again as qualifier, she finished as quarterfinalist. Golds played her first ever 25K's semi-final at Kalgoorlie in March 2008 when she lost to Zhou also.

In quarterfinals, top seed China's Lu Jing-Jing did not waste her time to crush her compatriot Xie Yan-Ze 6-0, 6-2. Also booking their spot in semi-finals were second seed Ryoko Fuda from Japan and fourth seed Han Xinyun of China. Fuda denied the last local hope, qualifier Kim Na-Ri, to reach the last four round as she bounced back after she had a set down then she sealed 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory. Meanwhile Han edged past American Lena Litvak 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a battle against compatriot Lu.

In doubles' semi-finals, third seed pair Yayuk Basuki/Romana Tedjakusuma of Indonesia proved their strong performance both mentally and physically in such thriller. In the end Basuki/Tedjakusuma defeated top seed duet Hwang I-Hsuan/Zhang Ling (Chinese Taipei/Hong Kong) 4-6, 7-6(9), 10-8. Basuki/Tedjakusuma reach their back to back final in 25K and they will try to grab their third title of the season. In the final, Basuki/Tedjakusuma will face challenge from China's duo Liang Chen/Sun Sheng-Nan who battled past local duet of Chang Kyung-Mi/Lee Jin-A 6-4, 7-6(4).