Curtis Will Direct Northwood Athletics

Rick Curtis, the long-time athletic director at Irvine High, will become the athletic director at Irvine’s Northwood High, which will open in the fall of 1999.

Curtis, who has been athletic director at Irvine for the past nine years, will remain at the school until then. He said Irvine will consider splitting his position into boys’ and girls’ athletic directors after he leaves.

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Fung Permadi of China defeated top-seeded Ardy Wiranata of Colorado Springs to advance to today’s finals of the men’s singles of the U.S. Open Badminton Championships at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange.

Permadi won, 10-15, 15-8, 15-7. He will face Scotland’s Bruce Flockhart, who beat Kevin Han of Colorado Springs, 15-10, 15-7.

In women’s singles, Ye Ping Tang of Maryland, defeated Colorado Spring’s Cindy Chi, 11-7, 7-11, 15-8. Tany will meet Jo Muggeridge of England, who beat Kara Solmundson of Canada, by injury default.

Sin-Jeng Horng and Wei-Jen Lee of China won their semifinal sets against Mike Beres and Bryan Moody of Canada, 12-15, 15-6, 15-8. They’ll play Iain Sydie and Darryl Yung of Canada in the finals. Sydie and Yung beat Kenny Chen and Alex Liang Of China, 18-16, 15-5.

Finals start at 5 today.

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Many of the top junior boys’ and girls’ doubles teams in Southern California will compete today and Sunday in the opening rounds of the AirTouch Cellular Junior Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Irvine. Competition will move to the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach, where the finals will be held Thursday.

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Huntington Beach’s Jami Goldman, who lost both her legs to frostbite a few years ago, broke a national record Friday at the Orthotics and Prosthetics National Summer Games at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Goldman, a double below-knee amputee, ran the 200-meter race in 41.81 seconds, bettering the mark of Washington’s Aimee Mullins by nearly two seconds.

Goldman is hoping to represent the United States in August at the World Championships in England. Competition at George Mason will continue through Sunday.