1998 THOMAS AND UBER CUPS FINALS SLATED FOR HONG KONG
by Mike Grossman (from a report filed by YANG YANG Badminton Equipment)

December 11, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - In 1998, Hong Kong will once again be the host for the badminton world men's and women's team championships, known in the sport as the Thomas Cup (for men's team) and Uber Cup (for women's team). This was disclosed by International Badminton Federation President Lu Shengrong late last week at the World Grand Prix Finals in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

Hong Kong was the host of the Thomas and Uber Cups Finals earlier this year, and was selected again as the championship site in an unusual move for the badminton federation.

In May of this year, at the world team championships, the 1998 site had been awarded to China. However, the prospective sponsors of the event expressed a very strong preference for Hong Kong over Shanghai or other sites.

According to Madam Lu, this left the federation with very few options and the IBF had to change the site from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

Observers pointed out that despite the change in site, the Thomas and Uber Cups in 1998 will still be held in China as announced in May since Hong Kong reverts back from British rule to Chinese governance in July of 1997.

The sites for the zonal qualifying tournaments for the Thomas and Uber Cups were also announced. Vietnam will host the Asian Zone tournament, while Norway will be the host for the European zone. As before, countries from the other continents will have the option of playing in either Asian or European zone qualifying events (all national badminton associations, except the host and the defending champions, have to go thru the qualifying event; 3 national associations will qualify from each of the two zones).