Taiwan player makes it to final eight

Taiwan had mixed successes in badminton yesterday. In the women's singles, Taiwan's Huang Chia-chi (黃嘉琪) made it to the top eight by defeating seventh-seed South Korean Lee Kyung-wan.

Huang will play China's fourth seed Ye Zhaoying (葉釗穎) today. It was the first time Huang had defeated Lee.

Meanwhile, Mia Audina needed just 13 minutes to beat Taiwan's other female singles competitor, Chan Ya-yin, by 11-2, 11-2.

She was joined in the last eight by China's top seed Gong Zhichao and third seed Dai Yun, who both also won their third round matches in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Huang Chia-chi beat Lee Kyung-won of South Korea 11-9 11-6.

In the men's, reigning Olympic singles champion Poul-Erik Hoyer and 1996 doubles gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky were sent crashing out of the Sydney Games yesterday.

On a day of drama and upsets, Danish world number three Hoyer was beaten 15-3, 16-17, 15-10 in a marathon battle with China's world champion Sun Jun.

Sun, who is only ranked 37th in the world and who has hardly played this year after an ankle injury, underscored his dark horse status with a stunning defeat of Hoyer.

The 25-year-old shrugged off his miserable freefall down the rankings this season in an epic three-game battle.

Watched by Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the US president, Hoyer recovered from losing the first 14 points of the match.

He then saved six match points in the second game after coming back from being down 7-14 to take the battle into a deciding game.

But Sun fought back from 4-9 down the deciding game -- aided by a disputed linecall -- to secure an epic victory.

It justified the Chinese selectors' faith to include Sun in the Olympic team despite a loss of form that left him unseeded in Sydney.

"I was fighting just to get one point in the first game so I was happy simply to get into the match in the second game" said Hoyer.

"All of a sudden I thought I could win it, so of course I am very disappointed that I was unable to take it all the way to claim the victory.

"At least I have to be pleased with the fighting spirit which I showed."

Hoyer's defeat came after legendary Indonesian doubles duo Subagja and Mainaky were bundled out of the men's doubles by South Korea's Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Dong-moon earlier in the day.

Subagja and Mainaky, who have developed virtually a telepathic understanding during a successful five-year partnership, were no match for the fired-up South Korean world champions.

But while Subagja and Mainaky joined Hoyer as members of the losers club, other big guns in the draw made it safely through.

In the men's singles, Danish world number one Peter Gade powered into the last 16 with a 15-3, 15-9 win over Denis Constantin of Mauritius.

Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat -- the top seed and on paper the biggest obstacle to the Dane's Olympic gold charge -- laboured through his match with Japanese unheralded Japanese player Hidetaka Yamada.

Hidayat, bidding to become the youngest Badminton champion in history, was pushed all the way by Yamada, before finally prevailing 15-5, 14-17, 15-8.

The baby-faced 19-year-old top-seed said he had he got a dose of Olympic nerves on his way into the last 16.

"The Olympic Games is the greatest sporting competition in the world," he said.

"These are my first Olympics so it is understandable to be a little tense and nervous.