UKRAINE DUMPS FINLAND AT EUROPEAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS April 13, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - The Ukraine badminton team today surprised and defeated the slightly-favored Finnish team, 4-1, at the opening day of the European mixed team badminton championships being held in Herning, Denmark. Favourites Denmark, Sweden and England prevailed over their opponents as the tournament got underway today with group round-robin play. In mixed team competition, 5 matches are played in each nation-versus-nation tie - men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles, women's doubles and men's doubles. The team that is victorious in 3 out of the 5 matches wins the tie. The European mixed team championships will be followed by individual event championships to be contested later this week also in Herning, Denmark. Results of today's group matches ================================ Group A - Sweden 4 Germany 1 Russia 5 Poland 0 Group B - Denmark 4 Netherlands 1 England 5 Scotland 0 Group C - Wales 3 Iceland 2 Ireland 3 Austria 2 Group D - Ukraine 4 Finland 1 Bulgaria 3 Norway 2 COPYRIGHT 1996 by D.Shuttlenws@genie.com. PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute electronically in whole or in part.