Thomas, Uber Cup finals break records

The recent Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2002 in Guangzhou, China, was one of the most broadcast sporting events in history, excluding major multi-sports events and FIFA's World Cup soccer, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) claimed on Wednesday.

With prime-time, live coverage of the last five days commencing in the evenings at 7.30 p.m. across Asia and at 1.30 p.m. for the Thomas Cup final on 19 May -- all broadcast live on terrestrial TV in China, Indonesia and Malaysia and across Southeast Asia on ESPN and Star Sports -- there was little doubt that records would be smashed, IBF said in its release.

China's CCTV alone broadcast 42 hours 30 minutes of live badminton from the Thomas and Uber Cup finals 2002 between May 9 and May 19. The potential audience reach of the terrestrial CCTV2 station is a staggering 1.094 billion viewers, and they had the chance to view all four semifinals and both finals live.

Indonesia retained the Thomas Cup for a record fifth time in a row, while China maintained its dominance in the women's event Uber Cup. -- JP