Indonesia ranked third for Sudirman Cup

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has been ranked joint-third with South Korea for the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships in Seville, Spain, in May.

Both teams reached the semifinals of the Sudirman Cup in Copenhagen in 1999.

Defending champion China and runner-up Denmark are ranked first and second, respectively. Sweden has been ranked fifth and England sixth for the event. England passed Malaysia in the rankings, with Malaysia dropping to the seventh position.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) said in a press release that 53 countries have confirmed their participation in the event, which will take place at the San Pablo Sports Stadium from May 28 to June 2.

It is the second-highest number of participants for the event, which first took place in Jakarta in 1989. The highest number of teams was 59 at the 1997 event in Glasgow.

The Sudirman Cup format takes the form of round-robin group play. Only three countries have won this biennial event: Indonesia won the inaugural event, Korea won it in 1991 and 1993, and reigning champion China has taken the Sudirman Cup home on the last three occasions.

Australia and Latvia have announced they will skip the event. (yan)