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THOMAS&UBER CUPS FINALS: CHINESE TEAMS SEEDED FIRST

March 31, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - The men's and women's teams from China have both obtained the top seedings in the Thomas and Uber Cups Finals (the world men's and women's team championships) scheduled for May 15 to 24 in Hong Kong, following the successes of Chinese singles players Sun Jun, Dong Jiong and Luo Yigang on the men's side and the dominance of the Chinese women in singles and doubles over the past 20 months.

Defending champion Indonesia has been seeded second in both Thomas and Uber Cups Finals.

In the draw held today at the Exhibition and Convention Centre in the Chinese special region, China was placed in Group A in the Thomas Cup competition with third seeds Denmark, Sweden and host Hong Kong. Indonesia is in Group B with the other third seeds Malaysia, the Netherlands and Korea.

In the Uber Cup Finals, China leads the Group A teams followed by third seeds Denmark, Japan and host Hong Kong. Susi Susanti's Indonesian team tops Group B followed by the co-third seeds Korea, the Netherlands and England.

The competition starts on May 15 at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium with group round-robin play. The top two teams in each group will play in crossover semifinals with the women probably playing on Thursday the 21st and the men playing on Friday the 22nd. The Uber Cup championship is slated for Saturday the 23rd and the Thomas Cup decider will be on Sunday the 24th.

The holding of the draw today signals that sport of badminton has overcome the turmoil of the past month when the then major sponsor from Indonesia went into technical bankruptcy, a victim of the economic problems besetting Asia.

(mcoe/dsimmons)