NEWSBITS FROM THE DANISH OPEN
compiled by Mike Grossman

October 21, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - Players and coaches coming from the Danish Open at Middlefart report the following previously little-publicized bits of news:

MEN' SINGLES

== Sun Jun of China, winner of the previous 2 badminton Grand Prix events - the Dutch and Russian Opens - and second-seed at the Danish Open, did not play. His withdrawal left the door open in the bottom half of the men's singles draw to eventual champion Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Demark and to semifinalist Peter Gade, also of Denmark.

== The younger Danes showed signs of great promise for Danish badminton. Kenneth Jonassen beat Indonesian Rosobin Jeffer, the winner of the last Asian Badminton Confederation championships. He also defeated Lin Liwen, one of China's top singles players, in the second round. Martin Lundgaard- Hansen beat another Chinese singles specialist, Hu Zhilan while Peter Gade took the measure of the Indonesian player, Hendrawan.

Gade made the semifinals while Jonassen and Hansen made the quarterfinals.

== The Danish number 3, Peter Rasmussen, also known as the Danish Asian because of his aggressive style of play, did not compete due to injury. Rasmussen has not competed internationally since the Thomas Cup finals in May.

== With the exception of veteran Hermawan Susanto, the Indonesian contingent consisted primarily of younger players being sent to gain international experience. Only Susanto and Hendrawan made it as far as the quarterfinals.

George Rimarodi won his first two matches but lost to Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the round-of-16.

Marleve Mainaky lost in the opening round to Martin Lungaard-Hansen.

Jeffer lost to Jonassen in the round-of-16.

== The younger Malaysians also went out early.

Yong Hock Kin lost in the second round to Hoyer-Larsen, while Lo Ah Heng, who surprised the badminton world in 1994 by making it to the semifinals of the All-England championships, went out in the opening round.

After drawing a first-round bye, Pang Chen lost to Peter Gade in the second round.

WOMEN'S SINGLES

== Top-seed Camilla Martin of Denmark lost in the second round to the eventual champion, Gong Zhichao of China.

== Like their male counterparts, the younger Indonesian ladies did not do well. Second-seed Sentosa and 3rd-and-4th seed Djaelawidjaya only made it to the quarterfinals. Yuni Kartika, also highly seeded, lost in the round-of-16.

MEN'S DOUBLES

== The eventual champions, Thomas Stavngaard and Jim Laugesen of Denmark, upset three seeded pairs in succession on their way to the title. In the quarterfinals, they beat Ade Lukas and Cun Cun of Indonesia. They followed that win with their upset of the top-seeded Danes, Thomas Lund and John Holst-Christensen, in the semis. In the finals, they defeated the second- seeds, Simon Archer and Chris Hunt of England.

== The highly rated Swedish pair of Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson continue to perform below-par. They lost in the opening round to Nick Ponting and John Quinn of England.

== In the men's doubles quarterfinals, Lund and Holst-Christensen beat Razak and Chew of Malaysia in a tough match, Stavngaard and Laugesen beat Lukas and Cun Cun, Zhang Wei and Liu Yong of China defeated Halim and Davis of Indonesia, and Archer and Hunt beat Kok Kiong Seng and Victo Wibowo of Indonesia.

WOMEN'S DOUBLES

== The second-seeds, Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark, went out in the semis. They lost to the 3rd-and-4th seeds, Julie Bradbury and Joanne Goode.

== The up-and-coming Danish player Majken Vange has been paired with the more experienced Ann Jorgensen and the combination made it to the semis. They beat the other 3rd-and-4th seeds, Joanne Muggeridge of England and Kelly Morgan of Wales, in the quarterfinals, and lost in the semis to the top-seeds and eventual champions, Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark.

MIXED DOUBLES

== Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark had a very easy win in the Saturday finals over the pair of Thomas Stavngaard and Ann Jorgensen.

== Nick Ponting and Joanne Goode of England made it to the semifinals. Compatriots Simon Archer and Julie Bradbury only made it as far as the quarterfinals.

== English player Chris Hunt and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark have formed one of those English-Scandanavian mixed doubles alliances that have historically done well.

This combo though is unusual in that the male player is English and the female player is Scandanavian. These alliances have usually consisted of a male Scandanavian and a female English player like the All-England champion pairing of Kihlstrom and Perry or the top Grand Prix combine of Sogaard and Gowers.

Hunt and Kirkegaard have competed together in 4 Grand Prix events so far and are now ranked eleventh in the Grand Prix standings. Their best showing has been at the U.S. Open where they were the runners-up to champions Kim Dong Moon and Chung So Young of Korea. At the Danish Open, they made it to the quarterfinals.