HOYER, STUER AND RASMUSSEN CARRY DENMARK PAST KOREA (Corrected Text of Previous Report) May 19, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - Denmark showed its strength in men's singles today at the world men's team championships of badminton (the Thomas Cup) in Hong Kong when its singles aces beat their Korean counterparts and gave Denmark a 3-2 victory in a key tie. Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the All-England champion two years running, gave Denmark a flying start with a 15-8 15-5 victory over Park Sung Woo. Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, the 6-foot 5-inch Danish world individual championships semifinalist, dropped his first game against the Korean left-hander Lee Kwang Jin, but found his form in the second and third games, winning with scores of 15-11 and 15-2. Peter Rasmussen, one of the near-legendary Morten Frost's proteges playing in his first Thomas Cup final, won the tie-clinching fifth match by disposing of Ahn Jae Chang 15-9 18-15. After his victory, Rasmussen's jubilant teammates tossed him in the air and carried him off the court on their shoulders. Sandwiched in between the singles victories were 2 Danish losses in doubles. Jon Holst-Christensen and Jim Laugessen, a substitute for an injured Thomas Lund, one of the world's top doubles players, lost to Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin 10-15 5-15. Henrik Svarrer and Michael Sogaard lost to Park Joo Bong and Kim Dong Moon 9-15 11-15. Denmark's win puts them in first place in their group but does not assure them of a semifinal berth as yet. They must beat Malaysia on Tuesday to qualify for the next stage. A loss to Malaysia and a Korean whitewash of Hong Kong will result in a three-way tie for first place and the Danes missing out on the semifinals due to the tie-breaking procedures in place. In the other afternoon tie, Indonesia assured themselves of a semifinal place by defeating the Swedish men's team, 5 matches to none. Despite the whitewash, the afternoon was not an easy one for the Indonesian singles players. Joko Suprianto had all he could handle against Jens Olsson in the early going. Suprianto dropped a tough first game to the determined Swede 16-17 before pulling out second and third game wins at 15-3 and 15-7. After Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky disposed of Par-Gunnar Jonsson and Peter Axelsson 15-7 15-3, Allan Budi Kusuma, playing in the second slot in place of world champion Heryanto Arbi, was surprised in the first game by Tomas Johansson 12-15. Kusuma came back in the second, winning at 15-5. In the third game, Kusuma had an easier time against the tired and slower Swede and won 15-2. The Indonesian team had decided to rest Arbi who was still not in the best of form following several upper leg injuries and to give Ardy Wiranata some match play in case he is needed later on in the finals. Rudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto defeated Johan Tholinsson and Henrik Andersson 15-4 15-3 to make the tie score 4-0 in favor of Indonesia. Ardy Wiranata closed out the Swedes with a 15-5 15-12 win over Rikard Magnusson. In the evening ties, China notched its first 1996 Thomas Cup finals win with a 5-0 victory over England and Malaysia did the same to host Hong Kong. In the China-England tie, Dong Jiong beat English number one Darren Hall 15-5 15-6. Ge Cheng and Tao Xiaoqiang followed with a 15-6 15-2 win over Nathan and Julian Robertson. Lin Liwen, playing second singles in place of a resting Sun Jun, defeated Peter Knowles 15-11 15-8. Liu Yong, playing in place of a resting Jiang Xin, and Huang Zhanzhong beat Chris Hunt and James Andersson 16-17 15-4 15-8. Chen Gang closed out England with his 15-11 15-7 win over English rookie Colin Haughton. In the Malaysia-Hong Kong tie, Rashid Sidek whipped Tam Kai Chuen 15-4 15-2 to open the scoring for Malaysia. Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock beat Chan Siu Kwong and He Yi Ming 15-5 15-4, followed by a 15-6 15-6 singles win by Ong Ewe Hock over Tam Lok Tin. Soo Beng Kiang and Tan Kim Her made the tie score 4-0 with their 15-7 15-5 defeat of Ma Che Kong and Chow Kin Man. Pang Chen ended the evening for Malaysia with his 15-4 15-7 win over Liu Kwok Ma. Malaysia's total whitewash of Hong Kong could have a bearing on who makes it to the semifinals out of their group. If they beat Denmark on Tuesday, Denmark, Korea and Malaysia could be tied for first place, and Malaysia would have the upper hand in the tie- breaking procedure since they did not lose a single game to Hong Kong while Denmark dropped two to the host country. The Thomas Cup round-robin standings after two rounds of ties are: Ties Played Won Lost Points Group A Indonesia 2 2 0 4 China 2 1 1 2 Sweden 2 1 1 2 England 2 0 2 0 Group B Denmark 2 2 0 4 Korea 2 1 1 2 Malaysia 2 1 1 2 Hong Kong 2 0 2 0 COPYRIGHT (c) 1996 by D.Shuttlenws@genie.com. PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute electronically in whole or in part.