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GRAND PRIX FINALS: FAVORITES FLIRT WITH DISASTER

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

February 25, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Peter Gade of Denmark and Sun Jun of China, the two players who are tipped to battle in the men's singles championship match of the World Grand Prix Finals now underway in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, flirted with disaster in today's round-robin stage matches. Gade, the world number one, and Sun, the number two, were both stretched to three sets before overcoming their respective opponents. Gade edged out Malaysian veteran Rashid Sidek 11-15, 15-11 and 15-11 while Sun came back from a horrible first game to defeat Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 4-15, 15-3 and 15-4.

Playing in Group A, Gade looked like he was going down to defeat at the hands of Sidek when he lost the first set 11-15 and fell behind in the second 6-10. But the Dane settled down and reeled Sidek back in to win the second 15-11. In the decider, Gade outplayed Sidek, going into the homestretch with a 5 point lead at 12-7. Sidek made a valiant stand at this stage of the match and fought back to close in at 11-12. But the Dane then managed to end Sidek's run and he finished Sidek off 15-11.

Sun played terribly in the first game of his Group D match with Hashim. Hashim took advantage of Sun's bad form and raced to an 11-1 lead before Sun got another marker. Hashim's margin in the first game proved too large for Sun to try to overcome and the Malaysian easily finished the set 15-4. Sun increased the pace in the second and went on the attack. The Malaysian was unable to match Sun's pace and shots and he was hardly in the battle with Sun winning the next two sets 15-3 and 15-4.

Another favorite, Dong Jiong of China, was beaten in a Group C match. Dong went down to Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia 15-13 and 15-8. In Group B, 1995 world champion Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia was defeated by Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia 15-11 and 15-2, while Luo Yigang of China lost for the second straight day. Luo was beaten by Kenneth Jonassen of Sweden 17-15, 9-15 and 15-9.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen also had a short flirtation with disaster in Group A. They unexpectedly dropped the first game to a suddenly difficult Dutch pairing of Quinten Van Dalm and Nicole Van Hooren 12-15, before buckling down and winning the next two 15-10 and 15-7.

In Group B, the in-form English pair of Simon Archer and Joanne Goode made certain of their place in the semifinals when they demolished the 1997 world championship finalists, Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark, 15-2 and 15-4. Archer and Goode had upended Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia, the group seeds, yesterday.

In men's doubles, Olympic champions Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja rebounded from their opening day loss by edging out China's Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei 15-12, 13-15 and 15-10 in a Group A contest.

Unofficial summary of today's results:

Men's Singles
Group A - Peter Gade (Denmark) beat Rashid Sidek (Malaysia) 11-15, 15-11, 15-11; Chen Gang (China) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-15, 17-16, 15-13
Group B - Kenneth Jonassen (Denmark) beat Luo Yigang (China) 17-15, 9-15, 15-9; Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia) beat Heryanto Arbi (Indonesia) 15-11, 15-2
Group C - Yong Hock Kin (Malaysia) beat Dong Jiong (China) 15-13, 15-8; Hendrawan (Indonesia) beat Jeroen Van Dijk (Netherland) 15-1, 15-2
Group D - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Denmark) beat Budi Santoso (Indonesia) 12-15, 15-11, 15-6; Sun Jun (China) beat Roslin Hashim (Malaysia) 4-15, 15-3, 15-4

Women's Singles
Group A - Zhou Mi (China) beat Karolina Ericcson (Sweden) 11-2, 11-1
Group B - Zhang Ning (China) beat Mette Pedersen (Denmark) 11-0, 11-5
Group C - Dai Yun (China) beat Margit Borg (Sweden) 8-11, 11-3, 11-3
Group D - Kelly Morgan (Wales) beat Yasuko Mizui (Japan) 4-11, 11-7, 11-5

Men's Doubles
Group A - Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian (Indonesia) beat Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson (Sweden) 11-15, 15-11, 15-6; Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja (Indonesia) beat Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei (China) 15-12, 13-15, 15-10
Group B - Simon Archer and Chris Hunt (England) beat Denny Kantono and Antonius Budi Ariantho (Indonesia) 3-15, 17-15, 15-7; Tony Gunawan and Heryanto Halim (Indonesia) beat Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen (Denmark) 17-14, 15-4

Women's Doubles
Group A - Ann Jorgensen and Majken Vange (Denmark) beat Haruko Matsuda and Yoshiko Iwata (Japan) 15-7, 15-10; Ge Fei and Gu Jun (China) beat Joanne Goode and Donna Kellogg (England) 15-9, 15-3
Group B - Marlene Thomsen and Rikke Olsen (Denmark) beat Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei (China) 15-15, 15-8; Pernille Harder and Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) beat Eliza Nathanael and Deyana Lomban (walkover)

Mixed Doubles
Group A - Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen (Denmark) beat Quinten Van Dalm and Nicole Van Hooren (Netherland) 12-15, 15-10, 15-7; Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min (Korea) beat Jon Holst-Christensen and Ann Jorgensen (Denmark) 15-9, 15-7
Group B - Heryanto Trikus and Minarti Timur (Indonesia) beat Janek Roos and Helene Kirkegaard (Denmark) 13-15, 15-13, 15-6; Simon Archer and Joanne Goode (England) beat Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen (Denmark) 15-2, 15-4

(jpf/ds)

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