ANDREA Holt's hopes of reaching the Olympics in Atlanta suffered a severe blow with defeat by Romanian ace Adriana Simion.

Ramsbottom's British number one lost in the first match of the second stage group matches in the Olympic qualifying tournament at the Nynex Arena.

Holt saved match points in the fourth game before eventual defeat.

The setback to her hopes for an Atlanta trip inspired her in her evening match with Zuzana Poliackove of Slovakia.

She was slow getting into her stride and her opponent took full advantage of lapses in concentration to win the first game 21-14.

From here it was all one way traffic as Andrea's Olympic hopes were kept alive with victories in the next three games 21-13, 21,-19 and 21-7.

The Lancashire lass had it all to do today with a busy schedule starting at 11.30am when she was due to play the crack Dutch star Mirjam Hooman.

She was due to meet Renate Peluchova of the Ezech Republic in the afternoon and to complete the group with a game against Fatima Isanovic of Yugoslavia tonight.

There were wins today for Lisa Lomas, who remains unbeaten and a sensational win by Alison Broe over Pernilla Pettersson of Sweden 21-19, in the fifth game to keep her hopes alive.

Matt Syed beat the useful Dane Alan Bentsen but suffered his first reverse when he lost to the English Open Champion, Damien Eloi of France, 17-21, 21-19, 18-21 and 20-22.

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