NO SINGAPORE OPEN THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF OLYMPICS

April 22, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - The Singapore Open, the fourth richest
event on the International Badminton Federation Grand Prix tournament
circuit with prize money of 165,000 U.S. Dollars, is reported to have
been cancelled for this year.

The Singapore badminton event, rated as a six-star Grand Prix tournament,
is usually held in late July each year. But this year, the Olympic Games
in Atlanta are also in late July, creating a problem for the badminton
federation schedulers.

The Grand Prix administrators first proposed September 2 to 8 as dates for
this year's event. However, the venue for the Singapore Open, the Singapore
Indoor Stadium, had already been booked for another sporting event.

Early August was also proposed as an alternative date. The main sponsors,
Konica, did not agree with this second alternative, saying that it was too
close to the Olympics.

Mid-to-late June was also suggested and rejected as being too close to the
world men's and women's team championships in late May. There also was a
concern that a June date would have a very weak draw as the top players
would bypass the tournament in order to train properly for the Olympic
Games.

Dates after early September were not available as other Grand Prix event
organizers had already reached agreement with the badminton federation for
those dates.

THe Singapore Badminton Association is reported to have expressed its
disappointment at having to cancel this year's Singapore Open but have
given assurances that the event return next year. They are said to have
booked July 21 to July 27, 1997 as the tournament dates.

COPYRIGHT 1996 by D.Shuttlenws@genie.com.

PERMISSION GIVEN to redistribute electronically in whole or in part.