Thomas, Uber Cup boast record entries

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The 2002 Thomas and Uber Cups, the world's longest-established badminton competitions, boast a record number of entries with 102 teams, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) announced recently.

A total of 48 teams have entered the Uber Cup women's world team championships across the three qualifying zones in Cuba, Australia and the Netherlands - one better than competed in the 2000 event -- and, not to be outdone with 54 teams set to play, the Thomas Cup men's event will see its highest level of interest since 1996.

Most of the major badminton nations will compete in the qualifying rounds of the team events in a bid to qualify for the final stage, to be held in Guangzhou, China from May 9 to May 19, pending IBF final confirmation.

In the Thomas Cup, six teams (three from Eindhoven and three from Melbourne) will be hoping to join host China and cupholder Indonesia, while China, as host and holder of the Uber Cup, will be joined by seven qualifying teams -- three from Eindhoven and four from Melbourne.

Teams can choose to start their qualifying campaigns in any of the available venues -- usually they choose the venue closest to them geographically, but looking at the 2002 entry list there are some surprises.

As expected, badminton strongholds Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea will play in Australia, while Denmark, England, Sweden and Germany are among the teams hopeful of success at the European venue.

But India has opted to play at the Eindhoven venue instead of joining most of its Asian counterparts in Melbourne, and similarly, New Zealand has shunned its neighbors and will travel nearly 18,000 km to the Netherlands instead of hopping across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne.

Canada, Peru and Brazil all consider their interests are best served in Eindhoven, rather than attending the Pan-Am First Stage in Cuba.

The group draws for the Australia and Eindhoven venues will be made no later than six weeks before the events commence, in line with IBF regulations, and teams have until just two weeks before the competitions to name their squads.

The last Thomas and Uber Cups finals were held in Kuala Lumpur, with Indonesia winning a record 12th Thomas Cup trophy and China retaining the Uber Cup.

In the past, the Thomas and Uber Cups were four-yearly events, which were held two years after one another. But the IBF changed the two tournaments into biennial events and brought them together to the same venue in 1990.