UPSETS CONTINUE AT JAPAN OPEN: HOYER AND SIDEK OUSTED
from reports filed by YANG YANG BADMINTON EQUIPMENT

January 16, 1997 (New Shuttlenws) - The wave of shocks and upsets at the five-star Japan Open badminton tournament continued today as the two Olympic men's singles medalists remaining in contention were defeated by lesser-rated opponents.

Olympic gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark, seeded 3-4 here, went down to defeat to the 9-16 seeded Park Sung Woo of Korea in today's round-of-16 matchup. Hoyer had started out well and seemed to have the match in hand when he took the first game 15-8. Park changed tactics in the second and started to play Hoyer's game with more soft drops and net shots. The tactical change worked as Park induced Hoyer into errors or poor retrieves and returns. Park took the next two games 15-7 and 15-8.

Olympic silver medalist Rashid Sidek of Malaysia, seeded second here, lost to the youthful Danish player, Peter Gade-Christensen in another round-of-16 matchup. Gade, who won the men's singles title in last week's Taipei Open, continued to be in form, despite a painful right shoulder. He outlasted a tiring Sidek in the first, 18-15 and then overwhelmed him in the second, 15-4.

Olympic silver medalist Dong Jiong of China, the top-seed here, was eliminated yesterday in the round-of-32 by the comebacking Ardy Wiranata of Indonesia. Wiranata, playing in only his second tournament since getting sick with hepatitis A in mid-1996, used his defensive ability and patient rallying play to negate the strong Dong Jiong smash attack in his 18-13 and 15-6 upset of the top seed yesterday.

Wiranata continued to stay in the hunt, winning his round-of-16 match today against Henrik Bengtsson of Sweden. It was not an easy win though for the Indonesian player. It took Wiranata a little over an hour to overcome the spirited play of Bengtsson. Wiranata lost the first game to the Swede 8-15 and then scrambled to win the second 15-9. In the decider, Wiranata was in full control, winning 15-2.

In another men's singles upset, Peter Rasmussen of Denmark defeated the 9-16 seeded Luo Yigang of China 15-10 and 15-3.

Other round-of-16 men's singles winners were:

5-8 seed Alan Budi Kusuma of Indonesia who barely prevailed over the 9-16 seed Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark 15-13, 17-18 and 15-13,

Jeroen van Dijk of the Netherlands who beat Henrik Sorensen of Denmark 15-10, 9-15 and 15-6,

5-8 seed Indra Wijaya of Indonesia who beat the 9-16 seeded Chen Gang of China 15-9 and 15-5,

9-16 seed Budi Santoso of Indonesia who came back from a first-game loss to defeat Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 12-15, 15-2 and 15-6.

In women's singles, all the remaining seeds came thru although top-seeded Mia Audina had to contend with tough opposition from Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden. Audina lost a tight first game to the Russian-born Swedish player 10-12 before climing victory with 11-7 and 11-2 wins in the next two games.

Other women's singles winners were:

5-8 seed Zhang Ning of China who beat Kyoko Komuro of Japan 11-5 and 12-11,

3-4 seed Ye Zhaoying of China who beat Takako Ida of Japan 11-4 and 11-7,

Ra Kyung Min of Korea who beat Julia Mann of England 11-2 and 11-1,

Lee Joo Hyun of Korea who beat Charmaine Reed of Canada 11-7 and 11-4,

3-4 seed Camilla Martin of Denmark who beat Hisako Mizui of Japan 11-7 and 11-8,

5-8 seed Kim Ji Hyun of Korea who beat Kanako Yonekura of Japan 11-4 and 11-3,

Second seed Gong Zhichao of China who beat Yasuko Mizui of Japan 11-3 and 11-7.

In men's doubles round-of-16 action, all the remaining seeds also came thru with victories.

Top-seeds Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia eliminated Tao Xiaoqiang and Ge Cheng of China 15-7 and 15-5, while second-seeds Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock of Malaysia beat Kenneth Jonassen and Jan Jorgensen of Denmark 15-2 and 18-13.

3-4 seeds Sigit Budiarto and Chandra Wijaya of Indonesia prevailed over the top Swedish pair of Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson 18-14, 9-15 and 15-7. The other 3-4 seeds Antonius Iriantho and Denny Kantono had an easier time against Takuya Katayama and Yuzo Kubota of Japan 15-9 and 15-11.

The three remaining 5-8 seeds also won. Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin of Korea beat Sudhisodhi and Siripool of Thailand 15-8 and 15-7. Thomas Lund and Jon Holst-Christensen of Denmark swamped Olynyk and Sydie of Canada 15-2 and 15-4, and the Chinese pair of Zhang Wei and Liu Yong defeated Matsuda and Ohtsuka of Japan 15-8 and 15-4.

Thailanders Kitikul Kitipon and Pramote Teerawiwatana, upset winners yesterday over 5-8 seeds Rudy Wijaya and Tony Gunawan of Indonesia, were eliminated by Simon Archer and Chris Hunt of England 6-15 and 11-15.

In women's doubles, the 5-8 seeded Danish pair of Majken Vange and Ann Jorgensen were upset by Takae Masumo and Chikako Nakayama of Japan 12-15 and 5-15 in the round-of-16.

Top seeds Rosiana Zelin and Eliza of Indonesia had a tough match against the Taipei Open winners, Park Soo Yun and Yim Kyung Jin of Korea. The two pairs split the first two games with the Indonesians taking the first at 15-9 and the Koreans the second at 15-10. The third game was a battle-royale with Zelin and Eliza edging out Park and Yim 18-17.

Second seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China were barely tested as they walloped Reid and Julien of Canada 15-1 and 15-0.

3-4 seeds Tang Yongshu and Qin Yiyuan of China beat the Mizui sisters from Japan, Hisako and Yasuko, 15-3 and 15-6.

The other 3-4 seeds, Marlene Thomsen and Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark, ended Indonesian singles ace Susi Susanti's run at the women's doubles event here when they defeated her and partner Finarsih in three games. The Danes and the Indonesians battled to a 14-all tie in the first game before Thomsen and Stuer managed to prevail 17-14. Susanti and Finarsih stormed back to win the second 15-9. In the third, the Danes got their bearings back and were in full control, winning easily 15-2.

Mixed doubles play got underway with first-round action. All the seeds who were in action today won.

Top-seeds Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia had a bye. Second seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark defeated Canadians Iain Sydie and Denyse Julien 15-9 and 15-6. 3-4 seeds Chen Xingdong and Peng Xingyong beat Hirai and Kida of Japan 15-11 and 15-5, and the other 3-4 seeds, Nimpele Flandy and Rosalina Riseu of Indonesia eliminated Miya and Matsuo of Japan 15-8 and 15-6.