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World Championships: Gade Overwhelms 1995 World Champion

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

May 19, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - At the world individual championships of badminton being staged at Brondby near Copenhagen, Denmark, men's singles world number one and top seed Peter Gade of Denmark was playing at close to the top of his form today when he scored a surprisingly one-sided victory over 1995 world champion Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia 15-6 and 15-3 in second-round action. Most everyone in the arena had expected a closer and more competitive match. Gade though was much too quick and his smashes much too fast and laser-sharp this evening for Arbi to cope with.

Sun Jun of China, the second seed, also had a good day. He defeated Rasmus Wengberg of Sweden 15-8 and 15-3 to move ahead into the round-of-16. 1996 Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen also went through to the next round. Hoyer, one of five Danes contending for top world honors in men's singles, beat Peter Knowles of England 15-8 and 15-8.

Defending world champion Peter Rasmussen, another member of the Danish fabulous five, whipped Daniel Eriksson of Sweden 15-5 and 15-3.

In women's singles, Kelly Morgan of Wales, the first-round conqueror of 1997 world champion Ye Zhaoying, beat Justine Wilmott of England 11-6 and 11-7 to move ahead into the round-of-16. Second seed Gong Ruina of China also went through with her 11-5 and 11-5 victory over Huang Chia-chi of Taiwan.

Denmark's Camilla Martin, the third seed, played much better than yesterday when she barely got past Ellen Angelinawati of Indonesia. Martin swamped Vlada Tcheniavskaia of Belarus 11-0 and 11-0.

Zhou Mi of China, one of the middle seeds, was an upset victim today. She fell to Lee Kyung Won of Korea 9-11, 11-8 and 10-13.

In men's doubles, Denny Kantono and Antonius Budi Ariantho of Indonesia, the top seeds, were shocked by China's Yu Jinhao and Chen Qiqiu in first round action. The Chinese pair's attack was too much for the defensive-minded Kantono and Antonius and the Indonesian pair went out of the tournament 15-17, 15-3 and 13-15 losers.

Second seeds Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian of Indonesia took their opening match against Belgians Patrick Boonen and David Vandewinkel 15-7 and 15-6. 1996 Olympic champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, another of endless top-drawer pairs from Indonesia, also were successful in their opener. They defeated Alastair Gatt and Craig Robertson of Scotland 15-4 and 15-8.

Chandra Wijaya, one half of the 1997 world champions, and current partner Tony Gunawan, both from Indonesia, had a walkover. The Latvian pair of Martin Kazemaks and Edijs Livins did not arrive in time to play their first-round match with Wijaya and Gunawan.

Malaysia's Cheah Soon Kit, a silver medalist last time around, and partner Choong Tan Fook breezed past the Mexican pair of Bernardo Monreal and Luis Lopezllero 15-3 and 15-2.

In women's doubles, defending champions Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China had a good start in their quest for another world title. They beat Helena Berimbau of Poland and Fiona Sneddon of Scotland in their opener 15-0 and 15-2. Their teammates Huang Sui and Yang Wei, seeded first at the tournament, also won in a breeze. They whipped Karen Stechmann and Nicole Grether 15-1 and 15-3.

In the third round of the mixed doubles played this evening, top seeds Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min of Korea overwhelmed Chan Chong Ming and Joanna Quay of Malaysia 15-3 and 15-3. Second seeds Simon Archer and Joanne Goode of England also proved themselves ready to contend for top honors when they devastated Denmark's Janek Roos and Helene Kirkegaard 15-2 and 15-0.

Defending champions Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China kept pace with the Korean and English pairs. Liu and Ge whipped Valerij Strelcov and Natalia Golovkina of Ukraine 15-4 and 15-5.

China's Chen Qiqiu and Huang Sui, upset winners yesterday over Wahyu Agung and Ema Ermawati of Indonesia, were eliminated this evening by Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-11, 1-15 and 5-15.

Denmark's last-minute pairing of Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager scored a big upset when they put out the favoured Indonesians Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur 15-12 and 15-7. Eriksen and Schjoldager were paired together last Saturday when Marlene Thomsen, Eriksen's regular partner with whom Eriksen won a sliver medal in 1997, broke an ankle while practising last week.

Other mixed doubles third round results:

Jon Holst-Christensen and Ann Jorgensen (Denmark) beat Quinten Van Dalm and Nicole Van Hooren (Netherlands) 15-6 and 15-7
Ha Tae Kwon and Chung Jae Hee (Korea) beat Bjorn Siegemund and Karen Stechmann (Germany) 17-14, 15-13
Bambang Suprianto and Rosiana Zelin (Indonesia) beat Chris Bruil and Erica Van Den Heuvel (Netherlands) 15-6 and 15-12

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