DANISH OPEN: HOYER, CAMILLA MAKE SEMIS; BATMAN KNOCKED OUT

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS REPORT is presented by badminton world champions YANG YANG (1987 and 1989) and ZHAO JIAN HUA (1991) and by YANG YANG BADMINTON PRODUCTS **

October 18, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and Camilla Martin, Denmark's top singles players, both made their way into today's semifinals of the Danish Open badminton championships being staged at the Indraetcentre in the town of Vejle. Hoyer, the top-seed in the men's singles event, defeated Fung Permadi of Taiwan 15-4 and 15-8 in last evening's quarterfinals. Martin, picked number one in the women's singles, eliminated compatriot Heidi Dossing 11-8 and 11-2.

Earlier in the day, the player called Batman or Phantom by Danish badminton fans, the second-seeded Peter Rasmussen of Denmark, was upended by Malaysia's Mohammed Roslin Hashim 15-7 and 15-6 in a men's singles second round match. Rasmussen is the current world men's singles champion but has not been in top form ever since he won the world title in early June.

Another second-seed also was upset in the early matches yesterday. In men's doubles, Thomas Stavngaard and Jim Laugesen of Denmark were eliminated by the Aussie pair of Mark Nichols and Murray Hocking 12-15, 15-5 and 12-15 in a second-round encounter.

In today's semifinals, Hoyer will face his fourth-seeded teammate Peter Gade Christensen who disposed of Sweden's Rikard Magnusson 15-6 and 15-4 in his quarterfinal match. Third-seed Dong Jiong of China plays the unseeded Roslin Hashim in the other men's singles semifinal.

Dong beat fifth-seed Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark 15-13 and 18-14 while Hashim eliminated Danish player Anders Boesen 15-6 and 15-6.

In the other women's singles quarterfinals, sixth-seed Anne Sondergaard of Denmark had a walkover victory when China's Zhou Mi was unable to play. The seventh-seeded Mette Sorensen, another Dane, upset Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden, the third-seed, 11-2 and 11-4. Fourth-seed Mette Pedersen, still another Dane, beat Margit Borg of Sweden 11-6, 7-11 and 11-9 to make today's women's singles semifinals all-Danish affairs.

Sondergaard plays Martin later today in the semifinals. Pedersen will face Sorensen.

In one of the mixed doubles semifinals played last evening, top-seeds Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen defeated Simon Archer of England and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands 15-13 and 15-7. In today's championship match, Eriksen and Thomsen, both from the host country Denmark, will play their second-seeded compatriots Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen, victors in the other semifinal.

(mcoe/dsimmons)