RUSSIAN OPEN: SWEDE UPSETS STUER

** 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) - Henrik Bengtsson of Sweden, the sixth seed in the men's singles event at the Russian Open badminton tournament, upset one of Denmark's top aces, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, in a quarterfinal match late today. The Swedish player defeated the second-seeded Dane in three games 9-15, 15-5 and 15-11.

Top seed Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark was given a scare by fellow Dane Anders Boesen. Boesen took advantage of a sluggish and erratic Hoyer in the first game which the top seed lost 7-15. Hoyer played more like the Olympic champion that he is in the second and third games, winning handily at 15-8 and 15-4.

Hoyer's win moves him into tomorrow's semifinals where he will play Sweden's Rikard Magnusson, an easy 15-2 and 15-7 winner of his quarterfinal match against Stanislav Pukhov of Russia. Magnusson is seeded third.

Bengtsson will face fourth-seeded Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark who beat Colin Haughton of England 15-4 and 15-12.

In the women's singles quarterfinals, top-seed Camilla Martin of Denmark had another easy match as she quickly disposed of Tanya Woodward of England 11-2 and 11-1.

Third seed Anne Sondergard of Denmark was shown the door by Korean rookie Kim Kyung Ran 6-11 and 7-11.

Fourth seed Mette Sorensen, also of Denmark, had a difficult first game against sixth-seed Margit Borg of Sweden. Borg battled Sorensen point for point until the Danish lady managed to pull out the win in a tiebreak 12-11. Borg was out of it in the second and Sorensen breezed thru to victory 11-4.

Another Dane, the fifth-seeded Mette Pedersen, also joined the ranks of the semifinalists. Pedersen defeated Park Yoon Kyung 11-3 and 12-10.

In the women's singles semifinals, Martin will play Sorensen and Kim will face off against Pedersen.

Russia's top-seeded men's doubles pair of Andrej Antropov and Nikolaj Zuev continued to move ahead in the competition. Antropov and Zuev disposed of Ian Pearson and Anthony Clark of England 15-10 and 15-4 in a quarterfinal matchup.

Second-seeded Danes Jim Laugessen and Thomas Stavngaard took care of Finns Ilkka Nyqvist and Ville Kinnunen 15-9 and 15-4, while their third-seeded teammates Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael Sogaard defeated Igor Shibanov and Alexei Popov of Russia 15-5 and 15-5.

In the other men's doubles quarterfinal, the Russian pair of Sergei Melnikov and Artur Kachaturyan beat Michael Helber and Bjorn Siegemund of Germany 15-11 and 15-10. The fourth-seeded pair of Mihail Popov and Svetoslav Stojanov of Bulgaria who were in the same section of the draw as Melnikov and Kachaturyan failed to play in the tournament due to a late injury to Stojanov.

In the men's doubles semifinals tomorrow, it will be Denmark against Russia. This year's All-England runners-up, Holst and Sogaard, battle the top-seeds Antropov and Zuev, while Laugessen and Stavngaard play Melnikov and Kachaturyan.

(mig)