INDONESIAN PARADISE TO HOST BADMINTON GRAND PRIX FINALS August 16, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - The paradise island of Bali in Indonesia has been selected as the site for the 1996 Grand Prix Finals of badminton, according to the competition calendar for the balance of 1996 as released by the International Badminton Federation. The "Finals" is the tournament of champions of the badminton Grand Prix circuit. Only the players who had top performances in the individual Grand Prix tournaments held all over the world in 1996 are eligible to play in the Finals. These players are usually the champions, finalists and a few semifinalists from these tournaments. The Finals is also the richest badminton tournament in terms of prize money. This year, the purse is 350 thousand U.S. dollars. Standing out in the badminton federation's competition calendar is the nouveau-riche U.S. Open which this year offers a purse of 225 thousand U.S. dollars, a vast jump up from last year's paltry prize money of 35 thousand U.S. dollars. The competition calendar also shows the return of the Dutch Open to the Grand Prix Circuit. The Dutch Open had to be cancelled last year due to sponsorhip problems. It returns to the calendar this year with 60 thousand U.S. dollars in prize money. Missing from the competition calendar is the 160 thousand U.S. dollar Singapore Open which had to be cancelled due to scheduling problems with the Atlanta Olympic Games as well as the tournament venue. The Singapore badminton association have announced that their Open will be back on the calendar in 1997. Also missing is the Canadian Open. A long-time fixture in the Grand Prix circuit, the tournament had to be cancelled this year as the badminton association in Canada struggles with funding cutbacks from the Canadian government and the tournament's main sponsor faces below-target business results. The Scottish Open, another long-time fixture on the Grand Prix circuit, has opted out of the Grand Prix because of sponsorship difficulties and is now a European Badminton Union circuit event with prize money of 10 thousand U.S. dollars. The Royal Brunei Open with prize money of 60 thousand U.S. dollars has joined the Grand Prix circuit after several years as a stand-alone event. Also new to the Grand Prix are the Puerto Rico Open and the Vietnam Open (The Puerto Rico event was originally announced for August 8-11 but has been moved to mid-November). BADMINTON INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDAR August to December 1996 (capitalized events are Grand Prix tournaments; legend: GP = Grand Prix WR = World Rankings EBU = European Badminton Union) 24Jul-1Aug Olympic Games Badminton Competition in Atlanta, U.S.A. (WR rating: 7-star) 2Aug-4Aug Fonte Sao Paolo Cup in Campinas, Brazil (unrated) 12Aug-18Aug Manhattan Beach Junior International in Manhattan Beach, California, U.S.A. (unrated) 21Aug-25Aug Proton-EON MALAYSIAN OPEN in Kuala Lumpur (purse: USD180,000 GP/WR rating: 6-star) 23Aug-25Aug Botswana Invitational in Gaborone (unrated) 25Aug-31Aug Caribbean Championships in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad (WR rating: C) 27Aug-31Aug Sony INDONESIAN OPEN in Medan (purse: USD170,000 GP/WR rating: 6-star) 30Aug-1Sep Hamburg Cup in Hamburg, Germany (purse: DEM50,000 WR rating: 1-star) 31Aug-3Sep South African International in East London (purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 3Sep-7Sep ROYAL BRUNEI/HELIX OPEN (purse: USD60,000 GP/WR rating: 3-star) 5Sep-8Sep Australian International in Perth (purse: data not provided WR rating: A) 7Sep-13Sep PanAmerican Junior Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico (unrated) 8Sep-10Sep World Corporate Games Badminton Competition in Stuttgart, Germany (unrated; not registered with the IBF) 10Sep-14Sep New Zealand International (purse: data not provided WR rating: A) 10Sep-14Sep New Zealand Under-21 (unrated) 13Sep-15Sep Malmo International in Sweden (EBU event purse: SEK25,000 WR rating: A) 19Sep-21Sep Balkan Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece (unrated) 19Sep-22Sep Mauritius International (WR rating: C) 19Sep-22Sep Europe Cup in Haarlem, Netherlands (interclub tournament of champions team event; unrated) 23Sep-28Sep HonTaShan U.S. OPEN in Anaheim, California (purse: USD225,000 GP/WR rating: 6-star) 27Sep-29Sep World University Championships in Strasbourg, France (unrated) 2Oct-6Oct P&H DUTCH OPEN in s'Hertogenbosch (purse: USD60,000 GP/WR rating: 3-star) 3Oct-6Oct Czech International in Nymburk (EBU event; purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 5Oct-6Oct Mediterranean Cup in Bari, Italy (unrated) 9Oct-13Oct RUSSIAN OPEN in Moscow (purse: USD90,000 GP/WR rating: 4-star) 11Oct-13Oct Slovak International in Nitra (EBU event; purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 11Oct-13Oct Sao Paolo Cup in Sao Paolo, Brazil (purse: data not provided WR rating: D) 16Oct-20Oct Dan-Bunkering DANISH OPEN in Middlefart (purse: USD90,000 GP/WR rating: 4-star) 17Oct-20Oct Cyprus International (purse: data not provided WR Rating: C) 18Oct-20Oct Slovenian International in Ljubljana (EBU event; purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 23Oct-27Oct GERMAN OPEN in Saarbrucken (purse: USD125,000 GP/WR rating: 5-star) 25Oct-27Oct Czech Junior (unrated) 28Oct-2Nov CHINA OPEN in Guangdong (purse: USD140,000 GP/WR rating: 5-star) 30Oct-3Nov Hungarian International in Budapest (EBU event; purse: data not provided WR rating: B subject to confirmation) 5Nov-10Nov HONG KONG OPEN (purse: USD125,000 GP/WR rating: 5-star) 6Nov-9Nov Turkish Junior in Istanbul (unrated) 8Nov-10Nov Norwegian International in Sandefjord (EBU event; purse: NOK20,000 WR rating: A) 8Nov-10Nov Ville de Toulouse Open in Toulouse, France (purse: FRF60,000 WR rating: A) 8Nov-10Nov Slovak Junior (unrated) 11Nov-17Nov THAILAND OPEN in Bangkok (purse: USD125,000 GP/WR rating: 5-star) 13Nov-15Nov South Cup in Porto Alegre, Brazil (unrated) 14Nov-17Nov PUERTO RICO OPEN (purse: USD15,000 GP/WR rating: 1-star) 14Nov-17Nov Iceland International (purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 14Nov-17Nov South American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina (WR rating: C) 19Nov-24Nov World Junior Championships in Silkeborg, Denmark (IBF world championships) 20Nov-24Nov JVC VIETNAM OPEN in Ho Chi Minh City (purse: USD80,000 GP/WR rating: 3-star) 20Nov-24Nov Scottish Open in Glasgow (EBU event; purse: USD10,000 WR rating: A) 28Nov-1Dec Welsh International (EBU event; purse: GBP3,500 WR rating: B) 4Dec-8Dec WORLD GRAND PRIX FINALS in Bali, Indonesia (purse: USD350,000 WR rating: 6-star) 5Dec-7Dec Irish International (purse: GBP3,000 WR rating: A) 11Dec-15Dec IBF World Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia (start date (IBF invitational event for top players; to be con- purse: data not provided firmed) WR rating: none) 12Dec-15Dec Spanish International in Madrid (EBU event; purse: data not provided WR rating: B) 16Dec-22Dec HonTaShan Cup in Los Angeles, California (start date (invitational national team event; to be con- purse: data not provided firmed) WR rating: none) 26Dec-29Dec Copenhagen Masters in Copenhagen, Denmark (Danish international invitational event for top players; purse: data not provided WR rating: none) COPYRIGHT 1996 by YANG YANG and D.Shuttlenws@genie.com. 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