RUSSIAN OPEN: DANISH TOP SEEDS MOVE AHEAD

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS REPORT is presented by badminton world champions YANG YANG and ZHAO JIAN HUA and by YANG YANG BADMINTON PRODUCTS **

August 29, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and Camilla Martin of Denmark, the top-seeded singles players at the three-star Russian Open badminton tournament now underway in Moscow, both easily made their way into the round of 16 in yesterday's matches.

Hoyer-Larsen, the 1996 Olympic men's singles gold medalist, beat Andrei Zholobov of Russia handily 15-7 and 15-0, while Martin, the European women's singles champion, disposed of Russia's Anna Larchenko 11-1 and 11-3.

Men's singles second-seed Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, also of Denmark, defeated Alexei Chumakov of Russia 15-3 and 15-6 to also qualify for the round of 16.

On the women's singles side, England's Joanne Muggeridge , seeded second, beat Elena Tkacheva of Russia 11-1 and 11-6.

No top Asian players have been entered in this edition of the Russian Open due to the Asian badminton championships that will take place next week, the U.S. Open that will be played the week after next, and the South East Asian Games that is scheduled for the end of September.

The absence of top competition from badminton powers China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia opens the way for Hoyer-Larsen to bag his first Open badminton title since winning the Olympic gold medal last year, although teammate Stuer should be able to give him a tough time if they both make it through to the finals. Hoyer has been close to a championship several times after the Olympic Games but has lost in several finals and semifinals.

Other singles results from yesterday:

Men's Singles - Second Round:
Mark Constable (England) beat Vadim Itskov (Russia) 15-7 17-14
Pavel Uvarov (Russia) beat Kim Kwang Suk (Korea) 15-7 15-4
Anders Boesen (Denmark) beat Vladislav Druzhchenko (Ukraine) 15-8 15-10
Rikard Magnusson (Sweden) beat Alexander Russkikh (Russia) 15-6 15-7
Mihail Popov (Bulgaria) beat Mikhail Safonov (Russia) 15-5 17-14
Thomas Sogaard (Denmark) beat Artur Vodolazsky (Russia) 15-7 15-8
Stanislav Pukhov (Russia) beat Ville Kinnunen (Finland) 15-4 15-1
Colin Haughton (England) beat Yim Bong Eun (Korea) 15-10 15-0
Peter Janum (Denmark) beat Mikhail Shershnev (Russia) 15-2 15-3
Konstantin Tatranov (Ukraine) beat Jesper Olsson (Sweden) 17-16 15-9
Kenneth Jonassen (Denmark) beat Sergei Karamyshev (Russia) 15-3 15-2
Ilkka Nyqvist (Finland) beat Jong Bae Jun (South Korea) 15-10 15-3
Henrik Bengtsson (Sweden) beat Vladislav Tikhomirov (Russia) 15-0 5-15 15-1
Jacek Niedwiedzki (Poland) beat Andrei Kuleshov (Russia) 15-11 15-6

Women's Singles - Second Round:
Kang Mi Hwa (Korea) beat Natalya Gorodnicheva (Russia) 6-11 12-10 12-9
Katarzyna Krasowska (Poland) beat Elena Chepurnova (Russia) 11-1 11-1
Tanya Woodward (England) beat Tine Rasmussen (Denmark) 11-12 12-9 11-8
Mette Sorensen (Denmark) beat Viktoria Kosheleva (Russia) 11-4 11-4
Elena Sukhareva (Russia) beat Kang Young Hwa (Korea) 6-11 11-7 12-11
Margit Borg (Sweden) beat Zhanna Chornenkaya (Russia) 11-1 11-4
Anna Yefremova (Russia) beat Anastasia Russkikh (Russia) 11-2 1-11 11-4
Kim Kying Ran (South Korea) beat Ella Karachkova (Russia) 11-12 11-1 11-2
Karolina Ericsson (Sweden) beat Natalya Gonkar (Russia) 11-2 11-5
Natalya Dyachkova (Russia) beat Tamara Migalina (Russia) 11-9 11-7
Anne Sondergaard (Denmark) beat Maria Koloskova (Russia) 11-0 11-1
Irina Yakusheva (Russia) beat Irina Ruslyakova (Russia) 11-0 11-6
Mette Pedersen (Denmark) beat Maria Kool (Russia) 11-0 11-1
Park Yoon Kying (South Korea) beat Elena Nosdran (Ukraine) 12-10 11-7

(mig)