WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: KOREA SURPRISES DENMARK IN SEMIS

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May 23, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Korea scored a mild upset in the semifinals of the badminton world team championships in Glasgow, Scotland this evening when they defeated Group 1B winners, Denmark, 3 matches to 2.

Denmark had defeated the heavily-favored Indonesian team last night 3 matches to 2 to win Group 1b and had been expected to beat Korea in the semifinals.

Korea's Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist Kim Dong Moon and the silver medal winner Ra Kyung Min have been paired together for this tournament. Kim's power and Ra's defense proved too much for Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen.

Kim and Ra defeated Eriksen and Thomsen 15-10 and 15-13 to put Korea ahead by a match.

In the men's singles, Denmark pitted Peter Rasmussen againdt Park Sung Woo. Rasmussen was a dynamo in the first game, moving all around the court to retrieve and return shots and punctuating the rallies with point-scoring jumpsmashes. Rasmussen won the first 15-6.

Park solved Rasmussen's style in the second, moving the Dane around while anticipating Rasmussen's replies and positioning. The Dane was also more error-prone in the second setto.

Park took the second 15-11, with the game ending on a Rasmusen smashblock into the net.

Park easily moved ahead 12-4 in the decider as Rasmussen remained error-prone. A Rasmussen half-smash that went wide gave Park his thirteenth point.

Park then built up a rally and his smash at Rasmussen brought him a match point 14-4.

A Rasmussen shot into the net ended the game and the match with the score 15-4 in favor of Park.

Korea was now ahead 2 matches to none.

Camilla Martin put Denmark back into contention with her 11-7, 11-0 victory over Kim Ji Hyun. martin used her rallying tactics to move Kim around and often scored with deceptive dropshots that would land beyond Kim's reach.

The men's doubles match between Korea's Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin and Denmark's Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael Sogaard was fiercely fought. The shuttle flew back and forth over the net with power and speed, alternating with delicate touches.

The Koreans were too strong in the early going of the first game, scoring 6 points before the Danes could mark a point on a Holst smash. The Danes cut into the Korean lead to get close at 10-12.

An errant Ha clear under pressure brought the Danes closer at 11-12, but Ha's kill of a loose Holst clipshot moved the Korean score to 13.

Ha's crosscourt kill gave the Koreans a game point and then Ha got the better of Sogaard in a fast driving rally, inducing the Danish player into a drive that found the net.

In the second, the Danes did not let the Koreans grab a clear advantage. The two pairs matched points as Holst and Sogaard tried to keep the rallies flat and away from the devastating Korean smash-and-kill attack.

The two pairs fought to a 13-all tie. In the five-point setting, the Danes scored first but the Koreans got it back when Sogaard returned a serve into the net.

The Danes again scored to lead at 2-1, but lost the service. Ha's jumpsmash then got the equalizer for Korea.

The Danes mounted an attack on the next exchange but the Koreans defended well and a driveblock by Kang sent the shuttle past the Danes for a point.

The two pairs engaged in another furious driving rally. Holst sent a backhand drive into the net to give the Koreans a match point.

The Danes saved the match several times and scored their third on a Sogaard drive down the middle.

However, the Koreans got the service back and Ha's jumping smash at Holst score the winner.

With the 15-11 and 18-16 men's doubles victory, Korea had beaten Denmark and earned a place in the finals against China, 3-2 winners over Indonesia earlier in the day.

Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark defeated Ra Kyung Min and Kim Shin Young 15-9 and 15-11 in the closing women's doubles match to end the team semifinal at 3 matches to 2 in favor of Korea.

(martincoe/migrossman)