FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 31, 1995

HAN AND REIDY MAKE U.S. BADMINTON HISTORY - WIN BULGARIAN OPEN

(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- Kevin Han and Tom Reidy (Colorado
Springs, Colo.) accomplished a badminton first Sunday by winning
the men's doubles competition at the 1995 Bulgarian Open (Oct.
26-29, Sofia, BUL).  The duo defeated Finland's Mikeael
Segercrantz and Tony Tuominen 15-9, 15-11 to win the
championship.  The victory marked the first time a U.S.
individual or team has won an International Badminton Federation
(IBF) World Grand Prix event.  
     "We were very tense heading into the final because we wanted
this one very badly," said Han.  "We just encouraged each other
when we were down and it all worked out."
     "Winning the first World Grand Prix event for the U.S. is
very special." 
     The victory has catapulted Han and Reidy's IBF world
ranking up to 25 in men's doubles.  This marks the highest IBF
rating a U.S. player/team has achieved since 1992, when Reidy and
Ben Lee (San Jose, Calif.) were ranked 23rd in men's doubles. 
Despite these record-breaking feats, Han stressed there is still
much more work to be done.
     "I think we just have to keep playing hard and producing
results.  We can never be satisfied."
     Han also had a very successful men's singles competition,
advancing to the men's singles final where he was defeated by
England's Anders Nielsen 15-9, 15-4.
     Han and Reidy are both training and competing in Sweden, but
with two different badminton clubs.  Han is training with the
Aura Badminton Club in Malmo, Sweden, while Reidy is Gothenburg,
Sweden training with the Askim Badminton Club.
     The pair is currently going through the international
qualifying process to qualify for the 1996 Olympic badminton
competition in Atlanta (July 24-Aug. 1).  In order to qualify,
athletes/teams must compete in a minimum of 8 Olympic Qualifying
Events between April 1, 1995 and March 31, 1996 to achieve a
world ranking.  The Olympic badminton tournament field will be
selected based on that ranking on April 1, 1996.  The badminton
field will consist of a maximum of 192 players (36 men's singles,
36 women's singles, 20 men's doubles teams, 20 women's doubles
teams, and 20 mixed doubles teams).  
     The next stop for Han and Reidy on their Olympic qualifying
tour is Taiwan for the Chinese-Taipei Open (Jan. 10-14).         

###

(FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAUL PAWLACZYK, USBA
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, AT 719-578-4808)