Thomas, Uber Cup boast record entries
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.