FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 18, 1996

U.S. MEN, WOMEN WIN IN PRELIMINARY ROUND OF THE 1996 THOMAS AND
UBER CUP WORLD TEAM BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS 

(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.)  -- Both the U.S. men's Thomas Cup and
women's Uber Cup teams had little difficulty in their opening
round matches, as each breezed to 5-0 victories Saturday over
Malta and Mauritius respectively at the 1996 Thomas and Uber Cup
world team badminton championships (Prague, Czech Republic,
February 17-24).  The Thomas and Uber Cups are the world team
badminton championships for men and women, held every even year. 
Prague is the European Venue for the Thomas and Uber Cup
Preliminaries, while Auckland, New Zealand is the site of the
Asian Preliminaries (Feb. 18-25).    

The event is a team competition format, where each country plays
a best-of-five matches; three singles and two doubles against the
three other teams in their respective qualifying pools.  The
winner of each qualifying pool will advance to the semifinal
stage, and the three semifinal winners from the European venue
willthen meet the three semifinal winners from the Asian Venue at
the 1996 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals (Hong Kong, May 17-26).  The
U.S. men's Thomas Cup pool consists of Germany, Malta, and
Slovenia, while the U.S. women's Uber Cup pool consists of
Ukraine, Mauritius, and Nepal.

The Thomas and Uber Cup is also an Olympic Qualifying Event, with
results affecting athletes' world player rankings.  The
International Badminton Federation (IBF) will announce the 192
person Olympic badminton field (36 men's singles players, 36
women's singles players, 20 men's doubles pairs, 20 women's
doubles pairs, and 20 mixed doubles pairs) no later than April
15, 1996.

Saturday's Results - 1996 Men's Thomas Cup Preliminaries
(Qualifying Pool)

Group A

Canada def. Spain 5-0

Group B
Switzerland def. Italy 4-1

Group C
France def. Brazil 5-0
Poland def. Estonia 5-0

Group D
United States def. Malta 5-0
Germany def. Slovenia 5-0

Group E
Ukraine def. Cyprus 5-0
Belarus def. Czech Republic 3-2


Saturday's Results - 1996 Women's Uber Cup Preliminaries
(Qualifying Pool)

Group A
Switzerland def. Kazakhstan 3-2
Estonia def. Peru 5-0

Group B
Israel def. South Africa 4-1
Poland def. Italy 3-2

Group C
United States def. Mauritius 5-0

Group D
Scotland def. Iceland 5-0
Czech Republic def. Lithuania 5-0

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