KNOWLES UPENDS HALL AT SCOTTISH OPEN Glasgow, Scotland, November 26 - Peter Knowles of England scored an upset in the men's singles semifinals of the Scottish Open badminton championships when he defeated compatriot Darren Hall, the multiple English national titleist, 15-4 18-15. In the other men's singles semifinals, Jim Laugesen of Denmark defeated Anders Nielsen of England 15-11 15-11. In women's singles, Canadian Doris Piche, displaying her best form since a second knee operation early this year, came back after losing the first game badly to defeat Marina Andrievskaya of Russia, 2-11 11-3 and 11-8. In the finals, Piche will face Sweden's Catrine Bengtsson who won her semifinal over Anne Gibson of Scotland 11-7 11-5. The Scottish Open is the last tournament of the year in the World Grand Prix circuit of badminton. With the Grand Prix finals starting on Wednesday, November 29 in Singapore, all of the top players have opted to skip the Scottish Open, leaving this week's spotlight to lesser known players and pairs. Other semifinals results are: Men's Doubles J. Larsen and S. Osterberg of Sweden beat N. Cotrill and J. Quinn of England 15-7 10-15 15-11 N. Ponting and J. Robertson of England beat J.Laugesen and T. Stavngaard of Denmark 15-9 18-14 Ladies' Doubles E. Chaffin and S. Hardaker of England beat P. Harder and M. Vange of Denmark 15-8 15-4 C. Bengtsson and M. Bengtsson of Sweden beat N. Beck and J. Davies of England 12-15 15-10 15-5 Mixed Doubles J. Robertson and L. Cole of England beat K. Middlemiss and E. Allen of Scotland 15-8 15-9 L. Pedersen and A.M. Bille of Denmark beat N. Ponting and J. Davies of England 15-8 15-4 = END = ENGLAND'S KNOWLES BAGS FIRST GRAND PRIX TITLE Glasgow, Scotland, November 26 - Peter Knowles of England won his first badminton Grand Prix tournament today by defeating Jim Laugesen of Denmark 15-11 15-7 in men's singles play. Knowles was never in trouble during the match and started well, storming to an 11-0 lead in the first game. Laugesen, a former European junior singles champion and world junior doubles champion, fought back but could not surmount Knowles' commanding lead. Catrine Bengtsson of Sweden defeated Doris Piche of Canada in a tightly contested women's singles championship match. Piche took the first game 11-8 while Bengtsson took the second easily over a tiring Piche 11-4. The third game was a close one with Bengtsson eking out the victory 11-9. Bengtsson, a doubles specialist, won a second title when she and the unrelated Maria Bengtsson, also of Sweden, bested the young English pairing of Emma Chaffin and Sara Hardaker 15-7 15-5 in the women's doubles finals. In the men's doubles championship match, Nick Ponting, an All-England champion in the mixed doubles, and Julian Robertson of England easily defeated Larsen and Osterberg of Sweden 15-5 15-6. The victory was the first Grand Prix event title for the Ponting and Robertson duo. In the mixed doubles, Lars Pedersen and Anna-Mette Bille of Sweden spoiled Robertson's chance for a second Scottish Open crown by besting him and partner Cole 17-14 15-10. = END = ******************************************************************* as posted to badmnton@login.dknet.dk by d.shuttlenws@genie.com