CHINA OPEN: HOYER STILL OUT; STUER INJURED

** 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 **

November 6, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the 1996 Olympic badminton men's singles champion from Denmark, has pulled out from a second five-star championship in a row. Hoyer who withdrew from last week's Hong Kong Open to be with his wife as she was about to give birth to their second child has also taken himself out of the China Open being held this week at the Huangpu stadium in Shanghai. The Olympic champion has chosen to stay home with his family this week in Milton Keynes, England.

Hoyer was seeded second at the tournament behind his young teammate and world number one Peter Gade Christensen.

Another Dane, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, also withdrew from the China Open prior to the start of play. Stuer who made it to the finals of the Hong Kong Open is suffering from a slight injury that he sustained during the championship match in Hong Kong. Stuer was seeded sixth.

Top-seeded Gade had an easy opening day yesterday, beating Jean Frederic Massias of France 15-2 and 15-5. The third seed, Dong Jiong of China, also gained the second round, defeating Ponttus Jantti of Finland.

In the men's doubles, third seeds Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook avenged their semifinal loss at the Hong Kong Open last Saturday when they eliminated Koreans Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon with some ease 15-5 and 15-6. Kim and Ha had won the Hong Kong Open title this past Sunday.

Mixed doubles second seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen were victims of the major upset of the day. Sogaard and Olsen, both from Denmark, were taken out by China's Luo Yigang and Yang Wei 8-15, 15-7 and 17-18.

Some of the other results from yesterday's matches:

Men's Singles
Budi Santoso (Indonesia) beat Xia Xuanze (China)
Rikard Magnusson (Sweden) beat O Man Tung (Macau) 15-3, 15-4
Zhu Jianwen (China) beat Wong Choon Hann (Malaysia) 8-15, 15-8, 15-13
Soren B. Nielsen (Denmark) beat Lee Hyun Il (Korea) 15-6, 15-5
Peter Rasmussen (Denmark) beat Park Tae Sung (Korea) 17-14, 15-8
Zhu Feng (China) beat Cham Ka Man (Hong Kong)
Henrik Bengtsson (Sweden) beat Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia) 12-15, 15-5, 15-8
Hu Zhilan (China) beat Joaquin Lobo (Macau)
Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia) beat Marek Bujak (Germany) 15-7, 15-4
Xiao Ting (China) beat Cheng Tan Pui (Macau)
Sydney Lengagne (France) beat Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen (Denmark) walkover
Fung Permadi (Taipei) beat Daniel Eriksson (Sweden) 15-12, 15-8
Sun Jun (China) beat Cheung Chin Fung (Macau)
Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Jeng Yu-chi (Taipei) 15-1, 17-14
Chen Wei (China) beat Jeroen van Dijk (Netherlands) 17-16, 15-12
Lo Ka Lon (Macau) beat Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Denmark) walkover

Men's Doubles
Janek Roos/Michael Sogaard (Denmark) beat Horng Shin-jeng/Wang Chia-chen (Taipei) 15-3, 15-7
Yang Ming/Zhang Jun (China) beat Patapol Ngernsrisuk/Sudek Prapakamol (Thailand)

Mixed Doubles
Ha Tae Kwon/Chung Jae Hee (Korea) beat Janek Roos/Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) 6-15, 15-13, 15-13
Lin Liwen/Liu Lufang (China) beat Sydney Lengagne/Sandra Dimbour (France)
Simon Archer (England)/Catrine Bengtsson (Sweden) beat Yim Bong Eun/Kim Kyung Ran (Korea) 15-9, 15-6

(wangc/dsimmons)