ACOG - News - IBM

(27 July 1996; Day 08)

Two More Seeds Fall in Olympic Badminton Men's Doubles Tournament

The upset bug has struck the Olympic badminton men's doubles competition. Only half of the eight seeded pairs actually made it to the quarterfinal round, the latest victims being Indonesia's GUNAWAN and Bambang SUPRIANTO and Denmark's Jon HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and Thomas LUND.

GUNAWAN and SUPRIANTO, the No. 4 seed in the tournament but their country's third-ranked team, were upset by Malaysia's SOO Beng Kiang and TAN Kim Her, ranked 13th in the world. HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND, the fifth-seeded pair, lost to 10th-ranked HA Tae Kwon and KANG Kyung Jin. Indonesia still has two men's doubles pairs in the quarterfinals, but HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND were Denmark's last hope in the competition.

"I was really motivated to win a medal," GUNAWAN said. "That was my motivation to keep playing. Now, I might consider retiring from playing and spend more time with my family. For now, I'm going to enjoy being here at the Olympics."

SOO and TAN defeated GUNAWAN and SUPRIANTO in a tight match, 18-13, 4-15, 15-6. In the first game, the Indonesians held the lead for most of the set despite giving up the first point. SOO and TAN tied the game at 13-13, at which time the game was set at 5 points, all of which the Malaysians won.

"I'm proud for Malaysia," said SOO. "Our victory is an inspiration for the next game."

The second game was much different. GUNAWAN and SUPRIANTO gained the opening lead and held on to win, 15-4. In the rubber game of the match, SOO and TAN lost an early lead when GUNAWAN and SUPRIANTO went up 6-5. SOO and TAN then answered with 10 straight points.

"In the first game, we had a good rhythm and were going all out to win," said. SOO. "In the second, we were rather tired and got behind. Our lifted shots weren't deep enough."

HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND were exchanging the lead with HA and KANG several times in each game of the match. HA and KANG started each of the first two games ahead. In the first game, HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND gained the lead near the beginning of the game, but lost it again when the Koreans went up 10-9. HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND took control shortly thereafter, leading at 11-10, but then the Koreans hit six unanswered points.

The second game was even more up-and-down, seeing lead changes every 2 or 3 points. HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND tied the game for the final time at 14-14 and took all 3 points of the set game. In the rubber game, Denmark's pair took the early lead, but HA and KANG controlled the game at 9-5 after several lead changes, leaving HOLST-CHRISTENSEN and LUND to trail until the end.

Men's doubles quarterfinals begin Sunday.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Deana A.G. Monahan.


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