For Immediate Release
June 13, 1996
                                    
BUTLER, TANG TOP  NATIONAL RANKINGS FOR '95-96 BADMINTON SEASON
                                    
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  1996 U.S. National Champions Steve
Butler (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Tang Yeping (Gaithersburg,
Md.) finished the 1995-96 badminton season as the number-one
ranked male and female singles players in the country according
to the U.S. Badminton Association's official rankings.

Butler, who will become the U.S. National Team coach following
the summer Olympics, posted an impressive 15-2, 15-11 victory in
the U.S. National Championships which helped him to secure the
top ranking for year.  Yeping also won with relative ease, 11-6,
11-4.   

The rankings, which are based on match-ups from this year's six
USBA ranking tournaments, also placed Olympian Kevin Han
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Tom Reidy atop the men's doubles
ranks, Ann French (La Jolla, Calif.) and Kathy Zimmerman (Denver,
Colo.) at the head of the women's doubles and Andy Chong (Miami
Lakes, Fla.) and Tang as the number-one mixed doubles team.

The USBA ranking tournaments consist of five Classics and the
Adult National Championships.  To be ranked a player must have
competed in at least two of the six tournaments, unless a player
has been competing on the IBF World Grand Prix circuit, in which
case they must only compete in one tournament.

Rankings follow: 

MEN'S SINGLES
1. Steve Butler
2. Kevin Han
3. Andy Chong
4. Mark Manha
5. Tom Reidy
6. Ben Lee
7. Ronny Oetomo
8. Sandro Rossi
9. Alan Hundhausen
10. Jon Frisch
11. Howard Bach
12. Andrew Ibrahim
13. Stanley Wo
14. Cosmin Ioan
15. Raj Patel

WOMEN'S SINGLES
1. Tang Yeping
2. Andrea Andersson
3. Kathy Zimmerman
4. Meiling Okuno
5. Liz Aronsohn
6. Angela Tang
7. Ngoc Tran
8. Shannon Hsu
9. Stacey Murty
10. Lily Chen
11. Sunny Kim
12. Ksisha Kuharski
13. Janae Benett
14. Nancy Lanzarone

MEN'S DOUBLES
1. Kevin Han/Tom Reidy
2. Andy Chong/Ben Lee
3. Mike Edstrom/Chris Hales
4. Trinsa Gunadi/Budy Sumarli
5. Ronny Oetomo/Erwin Suyanto
6. Howard Bach/Stanley Wo
7. Keiron Ng/Raj Patel
8. Sandro Rossi/Kampol Surapiboonchai
9. John Frisch/Jon Gargiulo

WOMEN'S DOUBLES
1. Ann French/Kathy Zimmerman
2. Andrea Andersson/Tang Yeping
3. Gina Gomez/Meiling Okuno
4. Shannon Hsu/Eileen Tang
5. Liz Aronsohn/Ngoc Tran
6. Lily Chen/Meiling Okuno

MIXED DOUBLES
1. Andy Chong/Tang Yeping
2. Mike Edstrom/Andrea Andersson
3. Trisna Gunardi/Eileen Tang
4. Sandro Rossi/Liz Aronsohn
5. Alan Hundhausen/Kathy Zimmerman
6. Chris Hales/Ngoc Tran
7. Budy Sumarli/Gina Gomez
8. Budy Sumarli/Shannon Hsu
9. Mike Walker/Sunny Kim
10. Keiron Ng/Asa Strindland
11. Kampol Surapiboonchai/Donna Beach

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:  PAUL PAWLACZYK, USBA
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, (719) 578-4808 OR CHRIS LAWRENCE, (617)
492-5524