U.S. OPEN: VAN DIJK, MORGAN TAKE TITLES AT CANADIAN TUNEUP

September 7, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Jeroen van Dijk of the Netherlands and Kelly Morgan of Wales took the singles titles at the Glencoe International badminton tournament held at the Glencoe Club in Calgary, Alberta this weekend. Iain Sydie and Darryl Yung of Canada won the championship in the men's doubles event, while Monique Hoogland and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands captured the women's doubles crown.

Canada's Sydie also bagged top honors in the mixed doubles event with partner Denyse Julien.

The Glencoe International was held for the first time this year and was a tuneup tournament for the five-star U.S. Open badminton tournament that begins tomorrow at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange, California near Los Angeles.

Players from England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, the United States of America, Wales and host country Canada took advantage of the tournament to sharpen their playing skills for the U.S. Open.

In the finals held yesterday, Iain Sydie and Denyse Julien turned back Nathan Robertson and Jo Wright of England in the opening mixed doubles match, 15-9, 11-15 and 15-10.

After a thirty-minute intermission to give Jo Wright time to recover after the mixed doubles championship match, Monique Hoogland and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands tangled with Wright and Lorraine Cole for the women's doubles title. The Dutch girls overcame stiff opposition from the English pair in the first game 15-12 and then capitalized on Wright's fatigue and a stomach muscle injury to win the second 15-4.

Jeroen van Dijk and Iain Sydie then took the court for the men's singles final. Sydie, who was playing in three events and who made the finals in all three, was a step slower today, while van Dijk was in good form. The Dutch player easily won 15-5 and 15-1.

In the women's singles final that followed, Kelly Morgan of Wales beat the veteran Denyse Julien of Canada decisively 11-4 and 11-4.

The men's doubles final was an all-Canadian contest pitting Olympians Sydie and Darryl Yung, playing in their first tournament as a pair, against Mike Beres and Brian Moody. In the closely contested first game, Beres and Moody had game point in a five-point tiebreak 17-16 (4-3) and were on the attack. Sydie and Yung defended well. Yung pulled off two incredible smash returns to deny Beres and Moody the game and to get the service back. Sydie and Yung then scored the two points that they needed to take the game 18-17 (5-4 in the tiebreak).

In the second game, Sydie and Yung were on the scoring side of many exciting rallies and exchanges, and they took the game handily 15-7.

(kpoole/mig)