Sixth seed Paradorn Srichaphan was knocked out of the semi-final of the China Open by Russian Mikhail Youzhny with 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Thai, chasing his second ATP tour title of 2004 after the victory in Nottingham Open, looked rather aggressive in the beginning of the semi-final clash, but was broken by unseeded Youzhny in the seventh game of the first set.

After losing the initial set, it was seemed that the Thai had lost his confidence. In the opening game of the second set, the current Asian number one's twice double faults even enabled Youzhny, hero of Russia's Davis Cup triumph in 2002, to break without struggles.

In the news conference after the 81-minute competition, Paradorn, who became the first Asian to break into the top 10 last year, said: "My body felt great today, and I thought I controlled myself well even after being broken by Youzhny in the first set. However, my opponent played better than me this time, so he deserved the win."

Youzhny, who excitingly saluted the audience after the game, said: "I was a little bit lucky and Paradorn made several mistakes. He could play better."

The 22-year-old Youzhny has outplayed three seeded players in the inaugural 500,000 US dollars tournament.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2004)