HOYER-LARSEN TO MOVE TO ENGLAND

January 28, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - According to badminton players who play regularly at the English National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, England, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark, the 1996 Olympic Games gold medalist in men's singles in badminton, has been spotted at the training centre and in various parts of the English town situated 40 minutes northwest of London.

According to these sources, Hoyer is moving to England with his wife, Heidi, and baby son, Lasse. The Olympic champion will be living and training in Milton Keynes.

They say that Hoyer is moving to take advantage of the tax situation in the United Kingdom which is better for him than in Denmark.

Hoyer is following the footsteps of the great Danish player Morten Frost who also moved to England in his prime playing days because of the tax situation. Another current top Danish player, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, also resides in England, although not in Milton Keynes.

Other top Danish players who have opted to reside elsewhere in Europe are Thomas Lund and Jon Holst-Christensen, the world top-10 rated men's doubles pair. Lund and Holst have taken up residence in France close to Germany, where they train with the top German players.

In another development related to Danish players, New Shuttlenws has learned that Thomas Lund plans to play his last international tournament at the All-England championships in mid-March, barring a change of mind. Jon Holst-Christensen will then team up with Michael Sogaard, whose own men's doubles partner, Henrik Svarrer, is also retiring. Holst and Sogaard played together this past week at the Korean Open where they made the quarterfinals.