NEWSBITS FROM THE GERMAN OPEN
compiled by Mike Grossman

October 29, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - Here are some little-publicized bits of news from the German Open:

MEN'S SINGLES

== German Open champion Rashid Sidek of Malaysia had to beat three high-quality Danes in a row to get to the finals - Peter Gade in the sweet sixteens, Martin Lundgaard Hansen in the elite eight (quarterfinals), and Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen in the final four (semifinals).

== Runner-up Ong Ewe Hock, also of Malaysia, beat Indonesian George Rimarodi in the round-of-16, Hu Zhilan of China in the quarters, and, for the second straight week, the Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the semis.

== The German Open was the last tournament for Hoyer-Larsen for a while. He next plans to play in the Grand Prix Finals in Bali, Indonesia in the first week of December.

== Indonesia's best men's singles results at this German Open came from Hermawan Susanto, Hendrawan and Rimarodi who all got shown the exit door in the round-of-16.

== Hu Zhilan and Lin Liwen of China both made the quarters where Hu lost to Ong and Lin lost to Stuer-Lauridsen.

== 5-8 seed Darren Hall and 9-16 seed Peter Knowles, both of England, did not play.

== 9-16 seed Jens Olsson of Sweden was upset by Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia in the second round. Yong was then eliminated by Hoyer in the sweet sixteens.

WOMEN'S SINGLES

== Top seed Yuliani Santoso of Indonesia was defeated by eventual champion Yao Jie of China in the second round.

== Second seed Christine Gandrup fell to Mette Sorensen of Denmark in the first round.

== Champion Yao Jie's road to the championship went through Monique Hoogland of the Netherlands in the first round, Santoso in the second, 5-8 seed Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden in the quarters, 5-8 seed Mette Pedersen of Denmark in the semis, and 5-8 seed Margit Borg of Sweden in the finals.

== Yao started the tournament unseeded in the spot reserved in the original draw for the second qualifier.

== Runnerup Margit Borg beat Heike Schonharting of Germany, Joanne Muggeridge of England, 3-4 seed Anne Sondergaard of Denmark and Yuni Kartika of Indonesia on her way to the finals.

== 3-4 seed Catrine Bengtsson of Sweden did not play, opening the door for Julia Mann of England to make the quarterfinals.

== Kelly Morgan of Wales continued to play well with another quarterfinal result. She beat Mette Sorensen of Denmark in the round-of-16 before losing to Yuni Kartika in the elite eight.

== 5-8 seed Denyse Julien of Canada did not play. Compatriot Charmaine Reed made the round-of-16.

MEN'S DOUBLES

== Champions Thomas Lund and Jon Holst-Christensen had a first-round bye followed by wins over Yap Yee Hup and Yap Yee Guan of Malaysia, Halim and Davis of Indonesia (quarterfinals), Axelsson and Jonsson of Sweden (semis), and Victor Wibowo and Seng Kok Keong of Indonesia (finals).

== Runners-up Wibowo and Seng were unseeded. They beat the Danish Open champions Stavngaard and Laugesen in the second round, 2-seeds Andreij Antropov and Nikolaj Zuev of Russia in the quarters, and 5-8 seeds Chew Choon Eng and Rosman Razak of Malaysia in the semis.

== 3-4 seeds Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson bounced back from a below-par performance at the Danish Open with a semifinal result at this German Open.

== The other two quarterfinalist pairs were both from Denmark - 3-4 seeds Christian Jakobsen and Jens Eriksen, and 5-8 seeds Peder Nissen and Jesper Larsen.

WOMEN'S DOUBLES

== On their way to the German Open crown, the top-seeded Indonesian pair of Denyana Lomban and Isoliana Indarti beat Peiffer and Vogelgang of Germany, 5-8 seeds Nicole van Hooren and Brenda Conijn of the Netherlands, 5-8 seeds Marina Andrievskaya and Christine Gandrup of Sweden (semis), and 2-seeds Eline Coene and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands (finals).

== Finalists Coene and van den Heuvel defeated Majken Vange and Ann Jorgensen of Denmark in the sweet sixteens, the 5-8 seeded English-Welsh pair of Joanne Muggeridge and Kelly Morgan in the quarters, and the unseeded Swedish-Danish duo of Margit Borg and Anne Mette Bille in the semis.

== Anne Mette Bille has been the forgotten Danish female doubles player this past 12 months or so. She used to be part of the top Danish women's doubles combinations but has been without a regular Danish partner for a while. Her performance at the German Open - a semifinal berth in the women's doubles and a runner-up finish in the mixed - shows that she can still play top-quality badminton.

MIXED DOUBLES

== Tricky Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia took the German Open title with an easy 15-1 and 15-6 finals win over the unseeded scratch pair of Jens Eriksen and Anne Mette Bille of Denmark. Other Heryanto-Timur victims at the the German Open include Jesper Larsen and Majken Vange of Denmark in the quarters and the German-Dutch team of Michael Keck and Erica van den Heuvel in the semis.

== Eriksen and Bille defeated the 2-seeds, Thomas Stavngaard and Ann Jorgensen of Denmark, in the semis.

== Eriksen was originally entered in the draw with Marlene Thomsen who did not play. Bille was a last minute replacement.

== Eriksen is making a habit of reaching the finals of top tourneys with scratch partners. At the 1995 world championships in Switzerland, Eriksen teamed up with Helene Kirkegaard to win the mixed doubles silver medal, losing in the finals to one of the masters of the mixed event, Thomas Lund and partner Marlene Thomsen.

== 3-4 seeds Peter Axelsson and Catrine Bengtsson did not play.