HOYER BOOSTS DENMARK PAST CHINA Denmark And Indonesia Into Thomas Cup Finals HONG KONG, May 24, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark today staged a spectacular comeback winover Dong Jiong of China to boost Denmark into the finals of the world men's team championships of badminton (Thomas Cup) on Sunday night in Hong Kong. The Danish cause was also helped by Michael Sogaard and Henrik Svarrer, winner of the second doubles in the Denmark-China semifinal tie, and Peter Rasmussen, winner of the deciding third singles match. Hoyer looked like a sure loser to Dong as he had dropped the first game 6-15 and was behind 1-13 in the second. Hoyer got his game together as Dong tired and lost his sharpness. Hoyer crept back to 13-all on accurate shots to the lines and Dong's errors. In the 5-point setting, Dong raised to 2-0 3-1 and 4-1 leads but Hoyer again dug deep into his reserves and pressured Dong into 4 errors to win at 18-17. The third game was another battle, but the 30-year-old Hoyer's composure carried the day as he again pressured Dong into errors and won 15-11. Jon Holst-Christensen and his scratch partner, Jim Laugessen, lost the next match to Jing Xin and Huang Zhangzhong 12-15 7-15 as the Chinese pair focused their attack on the Danish rookie Laugessen. Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen lost the second singles to a very quick Sun Jun of China 5-15 8-15. China was now ahead 2-1. In the fourth match, Sogaard and Svarrer had a workman like first game win against an error-prone Chinese pair of Ge Cheng and Tao Xiaoqiang 15-8. The Chinese fought harder in the second and both pairs raised their level of play especially on smash defense with saves just off the floor and between the legs. They played to a 14-all tie with the Danes capitalizing on forced Chinese errors. In the 3-point tie break, the Danes were helped by a receiver fault called on Ge that gave them match point. They then one 17-15 on a forced Chinese error. The tie was now knotted at 2-all. In the decider, the left handed Peter Rasmussen was very aggressive and played at high speed. His attacking style was too much for Lin Liwen who quickly fell behind 3-12 in the first. Lin tried to stage a Hoyer-like comeback and made it to 10-13, but several errors allowed Rasmussen to win at 15-13. In the second game, Rasmussen drubbed Lin 15-3 and gave Denmark the tie victory 3-2. The jubilant Danes tossed the heroic Rasmussen in the air and carried him off the court on their shoulders. The Danes celebrated their first Thomas Cup finals berth since 1979 for almost half an hour with snake dances, jigs, and chanting on the court. In the evening semifinal, defending champion Indonesia won their first 3 matches against Korean players to quickly clinch a finals spot. Joko Suprianto of Indonesia and Park Sung Woo started the tie with a battle of long rallies - clears, drops, net shots and smashes - in their first game. Suprianto fell behind slightly 11-13, but came back to win 18-17. In the second game, Park seemed drained emotionally and physically, and was no match for the Indonesian. Suprianto took the second 15-1. Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky staked Indonesia to a 2-0 lead with their 15-10 15-7 win over Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin. The Indonesians, especially Mainaky, were too quick for the Koreans at the net with rushing kill shots. Allan Budi Kusuma clinched for Indonesia when he beat Lee Kwang Jin 15-6 15-9 with controlled jump smashes, half smashes and drops. In the fourth match, the Korean near legend Park Joo Bong gave the mainly pro-Indonesian crowd an awe-inspiring display of his doubles skills when he and Kim Dong Moon blanked Antonius and Denny Kantono in the first game and then beat them 15-5 in the second. Ahn Jae Chang beat an unfocused Ardy Wiranatain the last match 15-8 15-3 to complete the scoring at 3 matches to 2 in favor of Indonesia. COPYRIGHT (c)1996 by D.Shuttlenws@geni.com.