ENGLAND TURNS BACK RUSSIAN BID FOR THIRD PLACE

April 15, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - At the European mixed team badminton
championships in Herning, Denmark, the England side turned back a
weak Russian bid to move up to third-place by winning all five matches
in a playoff tie today.

With the victory, England finished the team event third behind either
Denmark or Sweden, both of whom will contest the championship in the
final tie later tonight.

The English side, featuring their Olympic qualifiers, gave strong
performances in sweeping the Russians and did not drop a single game,
while the Russians fielded their second-string players in the men's
and women's doubles.

Peter Knowles thrashed Andreij Antropov 15-8 15-2 in the men's singles,
and the pair of Chris Hunt and Simon Archer defeated Sergei Melnikov
and Arthur Khachaturian in the men's doubles, 15-8 15-8. Hunt and
Archer are ranked 15th in the world while the Russian pair is at 45.

On the women's side of the ledger, Joanne Muggeridge beat the Russian
veteran Elena Rybkhina 11-6 11-4 in the singles, while the world number
five team of Julie Bradbury and Joanne Wright defeated the 58th-ranked
duo of Nedezda Cherviakova and Ella Karachkova 15-9 15-9.

In mixed doubles, the Russian Olympic qualifiers Nikolaj Zuev and
Marina Yakusheva were no match for the top English team of Simon
Archer and Julie Bradbury who won handily 15-6 15-5.

In other playoff ties, the Netherlands whitewashed Germany 5-0 to take
fifth place. Scotland beat Poland 3-2 in the seventh-place playoff.
Ukraine defeated Wales 4-1 to take the ninth place and gain promotion
to the first tier of 8 nations in the next European championships.

Bulgaria took the eleventh place with a 4-1 victory over Ireland while
Finland defeated Iceland by a similiar score to claim the 13th position.

Austria took the "wooden spoon award" with a 5-0 loss to the Norwegians
in the playoff for fifteenth place and may be relegated to the
third-tier Helvetia Cup tournament, a separate team event held for the
weaker European badminton nations.

COPYRIGHT 1996 by D.Shuttlenws @genie.com.

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