OLYMPICS: BADMINTON - DAY 7 AFTERNOON RESULTS HOYER-LARSEN OF DENMARK FINISHES INDO MEN'S SINGLES GOLD MEDAL HOPES July 30, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark, the last non-Asian left in contention for a badminton gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games, defeated world champion Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia in a men's singles semifinal this afternoon to remain alive in the quest for Olympic gold. Hoyer's win over Arbi also finished off Indonesian hopes of winning a gold medal in the men's singles event for the second time. Earlier in the competition, Hoyer had defeated Indonesian Allan Budi Kusuma, the defending gold medalist, and Rashid Sidek of Malaysia had taken out the topseeded Joko Suprianto. At the outset, it looked like an Indonesian victory was in the cards as Arbi repeatedly found the holes in Hoyer's defense against his jump smashes or the follow-on shots after the smashes. Hoyer's control was also lacking as he made several unforced errors that allowed Arbi to race to a 9-4 lead in the first. Hoyer soon managed to time the Arbi smashes and direct his smash blocks to spots that neutralized or disadvantaged the Indonesian. Hoyer also started to eliminate his errors and he then only allowed the Indonesian to score two more points to his 11. The first game ended with Hoyer on top 15-11. Hoyer continued to exhibit the same finesse and control in the second as he beat Arbi 15-6. Hoyer-Larsen's win guarantees him a silver medal and a good chance to win gold in the finals against Dong Jiong of China. The Danish victory also prevents an Asian sweep of the badminton medals. Earlier in the day, Dong defeated Rashid Sidek of Malaysia 15-5 and 18-16 to book his place in the men's singles finals. Despite their losses today, Sidek and Arbi are still in the running for a bronze medal. They must face each other in a playoff match for third place. In mixed doubles semifinal action, topseeds Park Joo Bong and Ra Kyung Min of Korea dispatched the 3/4 seeds from China, Liu Jianjun and Sun Man 15-10 and 15-4 to claim a spot in the finals. In the finals, Park and Ra will face compatriots Kim Dong Moon and Gil Young Ah, semifinal victors over Chen Xingdong and Peng Xingyong of China, 15-6 and 15-8. The two Chinese pairs of Liu and Sun and Chen and Peng will play each other for the bronze medal, unlike the 1992 Olympic Games where the losing semifinalists all received bronze medals. Men's Singles - Semifinals (July 30, 1996) DONG Jiong (3) - China beat SIDEK, Rashid (5) - Malaysia 15-5, 18-16 (match played earlier) HOYER-LARSEN, Poul-Erik (2) - Denmark beat ARBI, Heryanto (3) - Indonesia 15-11, 15-6 Mixed Doubles - Semifinals (July 30, 1996) KIM Dong Moon/GIL Young-Ah (5) - Korea beat CHEN Xingdong/ PENG Xingyong (3) - China 15-6 15-8 PARK Joo Bong/RA Kyung Min (1) - Korea beat LIU Jianjun/ SUN Man (3) - China 15-10, 15-4 COPYRIGHT 1996 by d.shuttlenws@genie.com. PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute.