FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1996

U.S. HAS TOUGH GO AT 1996 SWISS BADMINTON OPEN

(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- Several U.S. badminton Olympic
hopefuls entered the 1996 Swiss Open (Basel, Switzerland,
February 28 - March 3) with hopes of improving their world
rankings before the International Badminton Federation's Olympic
Qualification Period ends March 31.  These hopes will not likely
be realized however, as all American's were eliminated in the
first round.

Three events remain for U.S. badminton hopefuls on their current
tour of Europe.  They include the Swedish Open (Malmo, March 6-
10), the All-England Championships (Birmingham, March 10-16), and
the Polish Open (Spala, March 28-31).  

The Olympic badminton tournament will consist of at most 192
players:  36 chosen for men's singles, 36 for women's singles; 20
men's doubles pairs, 20 women's doubles pairs, and 20 mixed
doubles pairs.  The one year international Olympic qualifying
process will conclude March 31, 1996, and the list of eligible
players will be published by the IBF and notified to all National
Olympic Committees (NOCs) and IBF member nations no later than
April 15, 1996.  Along with this list, a list of eligible
reserves in the order of the official computer ranking will be
published for each event.

Complete U.S. Results - 1996 Swiss Open

QUALIFYING ROUND 

Women's singles
Andrea Andersson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) def.  Judith Baummeyer
(SUI) 11-1, 11-0
Andersson def. Andrea Harsagi (HUN) 11-7, 7-11, 11-3
Meiling Okuno (Sunnyvale, Calif.) def. Dimitruka Diminova (BUL)
11-3, 11-3
Okuno def. Andrea Dako (HUN) 4-11, 11-8, 11-6
Christine Skropke (GER) def. Linda French (Elmhurst, Ill.) 12-10,
11-5
Andrea Dako (HUN) def. Ngoc Tran (El Sobrante, Calif.) 11-0, 11-2
Maja Pohar (SLO) def. Gina Gomez (Millbrae, Calif.) 11-4, 11-3
Camilla Silwer (NOR) def. Okuno 12-10, 11-1

Women's doubles
Andersson/Tran def. Diminova/Petkova (BUL) 15-7, 15-9

MAIN DRAW

Women's singles
Heidi Doessing (DEN) def. Kathy Zimmerman (Denver, Colo.) 11-1,
11-3
Cindana Hartono Kusuma (INA) def. Andersson 11-5, 11-5

Women's doubles
D. Marco/ E. Sana (ESP) def. Andersson/Tran 15-0, 15-9
V. Chernyavskaya/T. Gerasimovitch (BLR) def. French/Erika Von
Heiland (Anaheim, Calif.) 15-10, 15-1
M. Edwards (RSA)/R. Pantaney (ENG) def. Gomez/Okuno 15-0, 15-6
I. Isoliana/D. Lonban (INA) def. Zimmerman/Stephanie Westermann
(Berlin, GER) 15-1, 15-3

Men's doubles
B. K. Soo/K. H. Tan (MAS) def. Mike Edstrom (Denver, Colo.)/Chris
Hales (Wooster, Ohio) 15-3, 15-3

Mixed doubles
S. Archer/J. Bradbury (ENG) def. Edstrom/Andersson 15-1, 15-6
M. Sogaard/R. Olsen (DEN) def. Hales/Tran 15-1, 15-2

(FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAUL PAWLACZYK, USBA
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, AT 719-578-4808, OR VIA E-MAIL AT
USBA1996@aol.com).