BADMINTON POWERS IN EARLY CLASHES AT THOMAS CUP March 29, 1996 (D.SHUTTLENWS) - In the schedule for the world men's team championships in badminton released today by the International Badminton Federation, badminton powerhouses Indonesia and China are slated to clash on the second day of round-robin competition (May 17). The team championships, known to badminton fans as the Thomas Cup, are being held in Hong Kong from May 16 to May 26. Indonesia is the defending champion in the world men's team event, while China is the holder of the Sudirman Cup, the world combined team championship. Two other powerhouses, Malaysia and Korea, also clash on the second day. Malaysia was the runnerup to Indonesia in the 1994 Thomas Cup finals and has lately displayed great improvement in international events with a team victory in the Thomas Cup Asia-Pacific Regional tournament in February followed by finals appearances by stalwarts Rashid Sidek and the pair of Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock in the prestigious All-England Open in mid-March. The Korean men's side boasts of three players ranked among the world's top 16 in men's singles as well as two highly-ranked pairs in men's doubles. May 19 and May 21 are also key dates in the round-robin competition. Denmark faces Korea on May 19 and Malaysia on May 21. Denmark fields an impressive and contending team for this year's finals. The Danes are led by Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the two-time All-England men's singles champion and ranked first in the world, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, 1995 world championships semifinalist and 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, and the pair of Jon Holst-Christensen and Thomas Lund, the world championships silver medalists in the men's doubles. In the world women's team championships known as the Uber Cup, defending champion Indonesia clashes with 1994 runner-up China on May 18, while top contenders Korea and Denmark meet on May 16. The Uber Cup is contested simultaneously with the Thomas Cup. In both competitions, teams from the three countries who qualified for the finals out of the Asia-Pacific regional qualifier, the three countries out of the European-American regional, the defending champion and the host nation are split into two groups of four. The groups play in a round-robin from May 16 to May 21 with the top two teams in each group making it into the crossover semifinals on May 23 and 24 where the top team in one group plays the second-best team of the other group. The women's semifinals winners then play each other for the right to hold the Uber Cup on May 25, while the men's finalists contest the Thomas Cup on May 26. The groupings for this year's team championships are: Thomas Cup (Men's Team Championship) ==================================== Group A Group B ------- ------- Indonesia Malaysia China Denmark Sweden Korea England Hong Kong Uber Cup (Women's Team Championship) ==================================== Group A Group B ------- ------- Indonesia Korea China Denmark Japan England Russia Hong Kong The full schedule follows (matches marked TV will be telecast by STAR-TV throughout most of Asia, by RCTI in Indonesia and by RTM in Malaysia. A videotape of Thomas Cup and Uber Cup highlights will be available from the International Badminton Federation for those outside the area of TV coverage). May 16(UBER Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. Japan (TV) China v. Russia at 1830 - Korea v. Denmark (TV) Hong Kong v. England May 17(THOMAS Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. China (TV) Sweden v. England at 1830 - Malaysia v. Korea (TV) Hong Kong v. Denmark May 18(UBER Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. China (TV) Denmark v. England at 1830 - Russia v. Japan (TV) Korea v. Hong Kong May 19(THOMAS Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. Sweden (TV) Denmark v. Korea at 1830 - China v. England (TV) Malaysia v. Hong Kong May 20(UBER Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. Russia (TV) Korea v. England at 1830 - China v. Japan (TV) Hong Kong v. Denmark May 21(THOMAS Cup) at 1200 - Indonesia v. England (TV) China v. Sweden at 1830 - Malaysia v. Denmark (TV) Hong Kong v. Korea May 22 - No Competition May 23(UBER Cup) at 1200 - First Semifinal (TV) at 1830 - Second Semifinal (TV) May 24(THOMAS Cup) at 1200 - First Semifinal (TV) at 1830 - Second Semifinal (TV) May 25 at 1900 - UBER Cup Final (TV) May 26 at 1900 - THOMAS Cup Final (TV) (This report was prepared from material from the International Badminton Federation, Connect Sports Publications - publishers of BADMINTON Magazine, and D.Shuttlenws files). COPYRIGHT 1996 by D.Shuttlenws Service. Permission granted to redistribute electronically in whole or in part.