** HELP!!! Keep NEW SHUTTLENWS going - BUY our sponsor's products. **

KOREAN OPEN: WORLD'S BEST PICKED TO CLASH FOR SINGLES TITLE

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS report is presented by YANG YANG Badminton Products and their Western USA agents BADMINTON ALLEY. **

January 11, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - The two top badminton men's singles players, Peter Gade of Denmark and Sun Jun of China, have been seeded to once again battle for the top honors in an international badminton championship. Gade, the current world number one, is the top pick at the 6-star Korean Open, while Sun, currently sitting at number 4 but ranked just behind Gade for most of 1998, is the second seed.

The Korean Open is the opening tournament in badminton's 1999 top-tier world circuit and offers a listed purse of 250,000 US dollars. The championship is making a return to the circuit this year after being cancelled in 1998 due to the economic problems that hit Korea and many Asian countries. It will start tomorrow, January 12 and will finish on January 17. It is being played in the capital city of Seoul.

Other top seeds in the tournament are world number one Camilla Martin of Denmark in women's singles, Flandy Limpele and Hian Eng of Indonesia in men's doubles, Yang Wei and Huang Nanyan of China in women's doubles, and the pair of Bambang Suprianto and Rosiana Zelin of Indonesia in mixed doubles.

Americans Dean Schoppe and Matt Fogarty are suprise seventh seeds in the men's doubles despite their number 81 world ranking. The seeding guidelines used by the International Badminton Federation puts more weight on recent performances and the Schoppe-Fogarty pair had high finishes in two second-tier international tournaments in late 1998. With many top combos inactive in late 1998 due to the cancellation of several tournaments and funding problems as well as the holding of the Asian Games in December and with high-quality pairs like Indonesia's Subagja and Mainaky and England's Archer and Hunt giving the Korean Open a pass, Schoppe and Fogarty have landed a coveted top-eight pick.

Schoppe and Fogarty though may have a tough time living up to their seeding. They have an even chance of getting past their first round match against the Swiss pair of Matthey de L'Etang and Bundgaard but face difficult second round opponents in either the Danish combination of Jonas Rasmussen and Ove Svejstrup or the Taiwanese duo of Victo Wibowo and Lee Wei-Jen.

Other American entries in the 1999 Korean Open include Ardy Wiranata and Kevin Han in men's singles and the pair of Howard Bach and Mark Manha in men's doubles. Wiranata, the former Indonesian world-beater who now serves as the American national coach, plays a qualifier in the first round and then could face either thirteenth-seed Rosobin Jeffer of Indonesia or Kasper Fangel of Denmark in the second round.

Han, the American national champion, plays Anders Boesen of Denmark first and is drawn to battle either seventh-seed Roslin Hashim of Malaysia or Chen Hong of China in the next round.

Bach and Manha have a difficult opener. They are scheduled to play the Danish pair of Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen of Denmark who are seeded fourth.

There are no Canadians entered in the tournament.

The Korean Open seeds:

Men's Singles - 1. Peter Gade (Denmark), 2. Sun Jun (China), 3. Poul-Erik Hoyer (Denmark), 4. Dong Jiong (China), 5. Kenneth Jonassen (Denmark), 6. Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia), 7. Roslin Hashim (Malaysia), 8. Thomas Johansson (Sweden), 9. Rashid Sidek (Malaysia), 10. Budi Santoso (Indonesia), 11. Jeroen Van Dijk (Netherland), 12. Rikard Magnusson (Sweden), 13. Rosobin Jeffer (Indonesia), 14. Ismail Saman (Malaysia), 15. Henrik Bengtsson (Sweden), 16. Indra Wijaya (Indonesia)

Women's Singles - 1. Camilla Martin (Denmark), 2. Gong Zhichao (China), 3. Dai Yun (China), 4. Yasuko Mizui (Japan), 5. Zhang Ning (China), 6. Zhou Mi (China), 7. Karolina Ericsson (Sweden), 8. Mette Pedersen (Denmark)

Men's Doubles - 1. Flandy Limpele/Hian Eng (Indonesia), 2. Cheah Soon Kit/ Choong Tan Fook (Malaysia), 3. Liu Yong/Yu Jinhao (China), 4. Jens Eriksen/ Jesper Larsen (Denmark), 5. Zhang Wei/Zhang Jun (China), 6. Chandra Wijaya/ Tony Gunawan (Indonesia), 7. Dean Schoppe/Matt Fogarty (USA), 8. Martin Lundgaard Hansen/Michael Lamp (Denmark)

Women's Doubles - Yang Wei/Huang Nanyan (China), Marlene Thomsen/Rikke Olsen (Denmark), 3. Ge Fei/Gu Jun (China), 4. Indarti Isolina/Carmelita (Indonesia), 5. Ann Jorgensen/Majken Vange (Denmark), 6. Joanne Goode/Donna Kellogg (England), 7. Mette Schjoldager/Ann-Lou Jorgensen (Denmark), 8. Joanne Davies/ Sarah Hardaker (England)

Mixed Doubles - 1. Bambang Suprianto/Rosiana Zelin (Indonesia), 2. Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen (Denmark), 3. Wahyu Agung/Ema Ermawati (Indonesia), 4. Jon Holst-Christensen/Ann Jorgensen (Denmark), 5. Jens Eriksen/Marlene Thomsen (Denmark), 6. Martin Lundgaard Hansen/Pernille Harder (Denmark), 7. Quinten Van Dalm/Nicole Van Hooren (Netherland), 8. Nathan Robertson/ Joanne Davies (England)

Unseeded entries to watch out for include:

Men's Singles - George Rimarodi (Indonesia), Fung Permadi (Taiwan), Roni Agustinus (Indonesia), Peter Rasmussen (Denmark), Hwang Sun Ho (Korea), Ardy Wiranata (USA), Thomas Stuer (Denmark), Ji Xinpeng (China), Yudi Suprayogi (Indonesia), Ahn Jae Chang (Korea), Pullela Gopi Chand (India), Irwanshah (Indonesia), Johan Hadi Kusuma (Indonesia)

Women's Singles - Kanako Yonekura (Japan), Mette Sorensen (Denmark), Lidya Djaelawidjaya (Indonesia), Gong Ruina (China), Margit Borg (Sweden), Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn (Thailand), Lee Soon Deuk (Korea), Meiluawati (Indonesia), Lee Joo Hyun (Korea), Brenda Beenhakker (Netherland)

Men's Doubles - Michael Sogaard/Jim Laugessen (Denmark), Victo Wibowo/Lee Wei-Jen (Taiwan), Chan Chong Ming/Jeremy Gan (Malaysia), Yoo Yung Sung/Kim Dong Moon (Korea), Julian Robertson/Nathan Robertson (England), Tan Kim Her/ Rosman Razak (Malaysia), Lee Dong Soo/Ha Tae Kwon (Korea)

Women's Doubles - Ra Kyung Min/Park Young Hee (Korea), Park So Yun/Joo Hyun Hee (Korea), Helene Kirkegaard/Pernille Harder (Denmark), Zhang Ning/Zhou Mi (China), Ema Ermawati/Vita Marisa (Indonesia), Catrine Bengtsson/Marina Andrievskaya (Sweden), Qin Yiyuan/Gao Ling (China), Chung Jae Hee/Yim Kyung Jin (Korea)

Mixed Doubles - Ha Tae Kwon/Chung Jae Hee (Korea), Zhang Jun/Yang Wei (China), Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min (Korea), Janek Roos/Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark), Lee Dong Soo/Yim Kyung Jin (Korea), Liu Yong/Ge Fei (China), Chris Hunt/Donna Kellogg (England), Yoo Yung Sung/Park Young Hee (Korea)

(ibf/ds)

** HELP!!! Keep NEW SHUTTLENWS going - BUY our sponsor's products. **