FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 16, 1996

THOMAS AND UBER CUP BADMINTON FINALS KICK OFF IN HONG KONG 

(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) - The world's greatest badminton teams began
their quest for world supremacy today, as the 1996 Thomas (World Men's
Team Championships) and Uber (World Women's Team Championships) Cup
Finals kicked off today in Hong Kong (May 16-26).

Six teams (China, Japan, Korea, Denmark, England, and Russia)
qualified for the Uber Cup finals via their respective continental
qualifying events.  Hong Kong qualified as host country, while
Indonesia qualified by virtue of being the 1994 Uber Cup Champions.

The following are today's opening round results of the women's 
Uber Cup Finals.  Games are best of 5 (3 singles, and 2 doubles matches)     

Group A (China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia)
Indonesia def. Japan 5-0
China def. Russia 5-0

Group B (Denmark, England, Hong Kong, South Korea)
South Korea def. Denmark 3-2
England def. Hong Kong 3-2

Each group will play a round robin format, with the top two teams in
each group advancing to the semifinals.  From there, the top seed in
Group A will play the second seed in Group B, and vice-versa.  The
semifinal winners will then meet in the Uber Cup finals.  This format
will also hold true for the men's Thomas Cup.  The following is the
draw for the 1996 men's Thomas Cup Finals.

Group A (China, England, Indonesia, Sweden)

Group B (Denmark, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea)

China, Korea, Malaysia, Denmark, Sweden, and England qualified for the
Thomas Cup finals via their respective continental qualifying events.
Hong Kong qualified as host country, while Indonesia qualified by
virtue of being the 1994 Thomas Cup Champions.

The Thomas and Uber Cup world team championships are held in
conjunction every even year.

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