Europeans grab singles titles at All-England

Europeans grab singles titles at All-England

BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): European shuttlers spoiled
Indonesia's badminton supremacy when they took all singles titles
at the All-England championships yesterday.

Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen scored one of Denmark's greatest
successes when he whipped world number one Hariyanto Arbi 17-16,
15-6 to win the All-England men's singles title.

Earlier, Chinese-born Lim Xiao Qing of Sweden captured the
women's title with an 11-9, 10-12, 11-3 victory over Camilla
Martin of Denmark.

Indonesia could only salvage its pride through an all-
Indonesian final in the men's doubles. First-seeded Ricky Subagja
and Rexy Mainaky held off a brave challenge of compatriots Denny
Kantono and Antonius in three sets 15-12, 15-18, 15-8.

Hoyer Larsen, who lost in his last five encounters, trailed
the title-holder 0-7 in the opening game but then took control of
the contest, nullifying the Indonesian's leaping smashes to exert
a firm grip on the match.

After surviving three game points, Hoyer Larsen fought back
from 16-14 down to snatch the opener.

Then from 7-6 in front in the second, he raced to victory as
the 22-year-old Indonesian top seed and two time champion became
thoroughly demoralized.

Hoyer Larsen, the European champion, was playing in his first
final in 14 visits to the All-England.

Lim had to weather a courageous performance from Martin, who
fought back from a 10-2 deficit in the second game to force a
decider.

The Dane had won five of their previous six contests, but Lim
took advantage of a succession of errors from the 20-year-old
Martin to race away with the final game in 13 minutes.

Martin, who beat Lim after coming back from 10-1 down in the
final game of last year's Danish Open, saved eight match points
before recovering to win the second game.

Too careful

Lim said afterwards she felt she would win at 10-2, despite
her previous experience against Martin. "But I became too
careful, too negative instead of staying aggressive as I was
before," she said.

She added that during the five-minute break before the decider
"I just tried to forget what had happened. Even though it had
happened before, thinking about it would not help me in the final
game.

"It was not easy to do that, but I did it and I played better
again in the third game."

Lim afterwards revealed two badly blistered feet, a legacy of
her triumph over top-seeded Indonesian and four-times champion
Susi Susanti in Friday's semifinals.

A huge blister on the ball of her left foot spurted blood as
she unbandaged it.

Martin said she had not been nervous. "But in the third game I
just could not keep my concentration. I wasn't clear in my head,"
she said.

"In the second game I just decided there was nothing to lose,"
added the Dane.

The first game was close until Lim took advantage of a string
of errors from Martin to move to within a point of winning it at
10-6.

But Martin, who beat Indonesian Mia Audina in her semifinal,
showed her fortitude by taking the next three points before Lim
produced an outstanding smash from the baseline to sew it up.

If Martin had the psychological advantage starting the third
game, she wasted it with another string of mistakes after she had
edged 3-2 lead.

She did not score another point as Lim pulled away to take the
title -- justification for her decision to concentrate on singles
this season.