ACOG - News - IBM

(26 July 1996; Day 7)

All Eight Seeded Men's Badminton Singles Players Advance to Quarterfinals

The men's singles competition proceeded as expected in Olympic badminton's third round on Friday. The field was limited to eight players -- the same eight players who began the tournament seeded -- Indonesia's Joko SUPRIANTO, Denmark's Poul-Erik HOYER-LARSEN, Indonesia's Heryanto ARBI, China's DONG Jiong, Korea's PARK Soo Wong, Indonesia's Allan BUDI KASUMA, Malaysia's Rashid SIDEK and Korea's LEE Kwang Jin, in order of seeding.

The only surprise was how close some of the matches were. While none of the top players at the tournament faced a serious threat in the first round, SUPRIANTO and DONG learned that not every match will be an easy win.

SUPRIANTO, the top seed, fell behind in the first game against Sweden's Jens OLSSON, 6-10, before climbing back on top to win 15-11. The second game closely mirrored the first game, with SUPRIANTO building a 10-6 lead before losing ground. OLSSON rallied to within 1 point, and the two struggled for control. SUPRIANTO eventually won, 15-12.

"I was a little bit nervous," SUPRIANTO said. "OLSSON took the advantage, so I had to pick up the pace. OLSSON was good, but he tried too hard."

The fourth-seeded DONG also had to fight for his victory. He won the first game easily, 15-6, but Denmark's Thomas STUER-LAURIDESEN came on strong in the second game. STUER-LAURIDSEN kept the game close and then tied the score at 13-13. DONG set the game at 5 points and won, 18-15.

SUPRIANTO looks forward to facing SIDEK in the quarterfinals. "I prefer to play Rashid SIDEK, as I know his game," SUPRIANTO said, "but he is getting better and better, so I will have to be careful."

His teammate, ARBI, was bolder, saying, "I fear no one. I am well-prepared."

LEE seemed to have no fear of facing ARBI, either. "I have played ARBI before and beaten him," LEE said, "but he is very strong."

How close is the competition? Three of these players made it to the quarterfinals in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, in which BUDI KASUMA won the gold medal. ARBI won the 1995 World Championships, in which PARK finished second, HOYER-LARSEN made it to the semifinals and SIDEK to the quarterfinals.

And BUDI KASUMA's play has been weakening since his Olympic gold medal, winning just four Grand Prix tournaments and none in 1996, when others seem to be peaking. HOER-LARSEN has won the All-England tournament, where SIDEK was runner-up, and the European Championships this year, SUPRIANTO won the Japan Open. LEE was runner-up in the Korea Open.

Whoever wins, the tight competition should make for exciting play.

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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