BADMINTON : Danes lay on shocks for Asia

One of the biggest upsets in the history of the venerable All England Championships provoked questions and excitement in equal proportion at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, writes James Leigh.

The stunning victory by the European champion, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, over the defending champion and world No 1, Heryanto Arbi, in the men's singles final raised the questions as to why the Asians, usually so dominant, won only the men's and women's doubles, and why the English failed to reach a final when their old rivals, the Danes, got two titles.

Hoyer's 17-16, 15-6 triumph came despite having been 0-7 down in the first game. The Dane saved three game points and got completely on top in the second.

Lim Xuaoqing, the Chinese-born Swede who had beaten Indonesia's Susi Susanti, perhaps the finest of all women's players, won her final 11-9, 10-12, 11-3 against Denmark's Carmilla Martin after letting slip eight match points and a lead of 10-2 in the second game.

Results, Sporting Digest, page 29