LAO Future Series
Thursday, 24 Apr 2008
  Vientiane Thursday, The stadium was paked with more than 2.000 local fans on the second dau of this Future Series The Mixed and Men's Doubles had done Lao proud, cruising through to the Quarter Finals tomorrow From left: Fongmalayseng Phatonekhan & Vanpasith Philavanh (Lao) Results 25 APR 2008: Click here

LAOS PREPARES FOR THE 2009 SEA GAMES
Thursday, 24 Apr 2008
  Just a week ago, players from 24 countries descended upon the seaside city of Johore Bahru in the southern coast of Malaysia to participate in the Badminton Asia Championship . The lineup there included some of the best players in the world.   And this week, players from some 8 countries are already in the Laotian capital of Vientiane to take part in the Lao Future Series . And none of the players participating there are ranked among the top 20 in the world. Therein the difference between the two tournaments.   The reason for this disparity between the two events could be attributed to three factors: that the BAC championship offered cash prizes, it was the final stop for those seeking Olympic Qualifying Points and the winner gets crowned as the Asian Champion.                                                     Mr Santiphab Phomvihane - President of Lao Badminton Federation

Finals Results - Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship
Monday, 21 Apr 2008
Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship 15th to 20th April 2008 Stadium Bandaraya Johor Bharu EVENTS CHAMPIONS RUNNER-UPS MEN’S SINGLES   Park Sung Hwan Chen Jin (CHN) WOMEN’S SINGLES Jiang Yanjiao (CHN) Wang Lin (CHN) MEN’S DOUBLES Jung Jae Sung   (KOR) Lee Yong Dae   (KOR) Candra Wijaya   (INA) Widianto Nova   (INA) WOMEN’S DOUBLES Yang Wei   (CHN) Zhang Jiewen   (CHN) Cheng Wen Hsin (TPE) Chien Yu Chin (TPE) MIXED DOUBLES Limpele Flandy (INA) Marissa Vita (INA) Widianto Nova   (INA) Natsir Liliyana (INA)             

LAO FUTURE SERIES 2008
Saturday, 19 Apr 2008
23rd April to 27 April 2008 Vientiane, Laos Lao Future Series 2008 Schedule of Play-Updated 18APR Draws Lao Future Series 2008 Draws in Progress by Karen, Chair Events - Mr Surasak and Match Control-Khuyen ( Photo by Edwin,HKG)  

JOHORE BAHRU THE FINAL LAP TO BEIJING
Saturday, 12 Apr 2008
At US$125,000.00 in prize monies and ranked Level 3 Gold in Badminton World Federation ranking, the Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship starting on Tuesday 15 th April at the Stadium Bandaraya,   Johore Bahru will hold special significance to some players taking part.   The event of this year has taken on a new dimension in interest and importance. And the reason being that effectively this would be the last chance for any athlete aspiring to make one final fling for entry to the Beijing Olympics in August…. either with a qualification ticket or an improved ranking status. This annual Asian Flagship is the last of the events designated by the BWF for ranking points for the Beijing Olympic Games.   The proof of this is in the exceptionally encouraging turnout of 24 nations parading their top players in the five day tournament. The final list released by the secretariat of the BAC in Kuala Lumpur when entries closed on 28 th March, is a who’s who of Asian badminton. The Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Malaysians and the Japanese will be parading the top-of-the-line performers while India , Thailand , Hong Kong and Taipei will have players with proven track record.   The Chinese delegation will be headed by Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang in the men and ladies individual events respectively with a supporting cast of Bao Chunlai, Chen Jin, Zhang Ning, Lu Lan and Zhu Lin. Except for their top doubles pairing of Fu Haifeng & Can Yun which is being rested, China will be in absolute strength in all the other disciplines at the championship. Guo Zhengdong & Xie Zhongbo will spearhead their men’s doubles while the pairing of Yang Wei & Zhang Jiewen and Zheng Bo & Gao Ling will lead the ladies and mixed events respectively.   Malaysia ’s Lee Chong Wei with territorial advantage should be well placed to take the Chinese for all they are worth. He has seen off Lin Dan and Chunlai at one time or another before and there is no reason why he should not be able to do that again. He has been in pretty good shape and his recent success at the national championship, should set his morale right.   But obviously the stage is set for more exciting times than just matches between Chinese and local players. Looming large on the horizon will be the Olympic champion and one of the sport’s most prolific players - Taufik Hidayat. He is the defending champion and would use the BAC championship as the springboard towards an unprecedented back-to-back gold at the Olympics. He was a gold medalist at the last Games.   Lining up alongside these four are some very strong contenders, including Taufik’s teammate Sony Dwi Kuncoro, a twice-winner of this title, the unpredictable yet potent Korean   Lee Hyun Il, the recent winner of the Indian Open Ponsana Boonsak of Thailand the much improved Japanese Shoji Sato and the aging but still dangerous local boy,   Wong Choon Hann.   The Malaysian doubles pairing of Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Hong, once recognized as the best in the world, has been pretty inconsistent in recent times and unless it can regain some semblance of its true potentiality, it can expect a ‘roasting’ from the likes of teammates Tan Fook & Wan Wah, who are also the defending champions, Koreans Jae Sung & Yong Dae and Luluk & Yulianto of Indonesia.  

THE FINAL PITCH FOR THE BEIJING GAMES
Friday, 28 Mar 2008
Lee Chong Wei The third week of April would be a defining moment for some players vying for participation at the Beijing Olympics. Between the 15 th -20th of the month, players yet to qualify for the Games, will get one final chance to chase for a place or attempt to improve their ranking positions at the Games. This will be when the Asian flagship – Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) Championship is held in the southern Malaysian city of Johore Bahru . The BAC event will effectively be the ‘final stop’ for Olympic qualifying points.   For one whole year, the window had been open for players to rake up Olympic points and earn automatic qualification to the Beijing Games.  These points were available at events organized under the auspices of Badminton World Federation. They ranged from the prestigious World Championship to the Super Series, Grand Prix & International Challenge Series, Confederation championships and the Thomas, Uber and Sudirman Cups .                                                                                                                                                                                            Sony Dwi Kuncoro                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Gonawala, Salgado uncontested at SLBA elections
Wednesday, 26 Mar 2008
  Christo Gonawala and Rajpal Salgado will be elected to the president's and secretary's posts uncontested at the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) AGM which is scheduled to be held on March 30 at the SLBA.   Gonawala, the present secretary of SLBA who is also secretary of the Mercantile Badminton Association has done a lot of hard work to promote the game in the last few years.  Salgado is the present assistant secretary of the SLBA.   Meanwhile nine persons are going to contest for six vice-president posts.  Three present vice-presidents Palitha Hettiarachchi, Mahinda Kumara and Nishantha Jayasinghe will once again contest for the same post.  Hettiarachchi is also the secretary of the Central Province and Nuwara Eliya District Badminton Association and has done an excellent job as NationalDevelopment Committee chairman.  Jayasinghe is also the present tournament committee chairman while Kumara is the Nuwara Eliya District Association president.

WU DIXI & GUAN WEIZHENG JOIN “THE KIDS!
Friday, 21 Mar 2008
  If you were in your teen and you were accepted to the World Training Centre in Guangzhou as among the first intake for 2008, one of two things could have happened to you when you arrived at the camp and ran into two ladies named Wu Dixi or Guan Weizhen. You would have either acknowledged them as a couple of officials who were there to help run the Centre or you would have stood awe-struck at the singular opportunity of coming face to face with two larger-than-life icons.     The chances are that you would have accepted them as a couple of Chinese personnel manning the Badminton World Federation’s Asia-based training centre for budding shuttlers. The reasons primarily being that when   Dixi and Weizhen were playing the sport, you were either not born as yet or you were a mere infant, since entry to this Training Centre is limited to those under the age of 18 and the two ladies were already winding up their chequered career in the sport by the 1990s.   Coupled to this is the fact that you would have arrived at Guangzhou from Laos , the Democratic Republic of Korea or Botswana – three countries not strongly ‘cultured’ in badminton. The chances of you having missed out on facts and figures about Wu Dixi and Guan Weizhen are high. So your ignorance is understandable.

A productive year, says Badminton Chief Amanda
Monday, 17 Mar 2008
By Dhammika Ratnaweera   Amanda Weerasinghe (President of the Sri Lanka BA)  President of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association Amanda Weerasinghe said that 2007 was a good year for badminton where the players had brought good results.   "There is talk about a new interim committee being appointed for badminton.  Normally when elections are around the corner there are some people who try to create problems and bring a bad name to the existing committee. We have come to develop the game and not to make any personal gains from the sport," said Weerasinghe.   "Niluka Karunaratne, our champion shuttler is very close to qualifying for the next Olympics. Most of the up and coming shuttlers showed big improvement. For example last week, at the Ariyadasa Silva Memorial Badminton tournament held in Matara 14-year-old Achini Ratnasiri won all the major events in the women's section while 16-year-old Nuwan Hettiarachchi won the men's title. This is a good sign and it showed our efforts were bearing fruit," he said.   Rohana De Silva (first Lankan to officiate at Olympics)

CHINA LEADS THE PACK WITH A GOOD DRAW
Thursday, 13 Mar 2008
China did not need it but still the luck of the Draw had the double-champion all but assured a safe passage to the quarter-finals of the Thomas and Uber cups 2008 in Jakarta in May. Drawn in the same group as a couple of minnows in both events, the Chinese men and ladies will have the luxury of playing their round-robin first round matches with a comparative ease of mind and topping their respective groups should be a mere formality. Therein will lay the advantage for China where its quarter-final opponent will be a second placed team of a different group. In the Thomas Cup tie, the men are drawn with Canada and Nigeria in Group A while in the Uber Cup schedule, the Chinese girls will have Germany and the United States for company in Group A as well. But unfortunately the same element of luck did not befall the rest of the major players attempting to wrest the silverware from China this time around. In Thomas Cup action, Malaysia , one of the prime candidates to challenge China for the trophy has Korea and England for company. The English may not be a potent force but the Koreans will be a huge thorn on Malaysian aspiration. They have been as inconsistent as they have been brilliant in the various Super Series this past year. They have the ability and the quality to come out best on any given day and this should be a worrying factor to the Malaysian camp. It is will be close-call for either to top the Group B .

APPEAL TO INCLUDE BADMINTON IN THE 2008 SOUTH ASIA GAMES
Monday, 10 Mar 2008
Col.Wali (Director & CEO, OC Ban) & Mr Kazi Mohiuddin Bulbul (Ban BF Sec, General) A recent visitor to the Kuala Lumpur office of the chief operating officer Badminton Asia Confederation, Karen Koh was Col.M.Wali Ullah (Retd), Director & CEO of the Bangladesh Olympic Council   and Mr Kazi Mohiuddin Bulbul, General Secretary of Bangladesh Badminton Federation.   Mr Kazi had called on Karen during his meetings at the AFC in Bukit Jalil. During his brief stop-over at the BAC secretariat, the two sports administrators spent time discussing matters of mutual interest.   One of the more pertinent points raised by Karen at this informal meeting with Col.Wali was the question of the non-inclusion of badminton as a medal sport at the 2010 South Asia Games. This was a follow-up to letters received by the BAC from various South Asian countries seeking its assistance to appeal on their behalf for the inclusion of the sport at the Bangladesh Games. Badminton had been a competition sport at the last two Games in 2004 and 2006.   The COO explained to Col.Wali and Mr Kazi that though badminton may not be a popular sport in Bangladesh yet there is a very strong and active association running it. In recent times there has been a marked increase in the participation of Bangladeshi players along the international circuits, primarily the satellite events.   Karen also stressed that at both the regional and international levels, serious efforts are being made to promote and popularize badminton. The Badminton World Federation through its regional confederations makes substantial allocation in money, equipment and facilities to get the game to all spectrum of the society.

BAC ORGANISED EVENTS APRIL 2008
Wednesday, 05 Mar 2008
BAC ORGANISED EVENTS APRIL 2008 OSAKA INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE 2008 DATED : 2ND - 6TH APRIL 2008 DATELINE FOR ENTRIES : 5TH MARCH 200 8 (EXTENSION OF DATELINE TO 12TH MARCH 2008)   YONEX-SUNRISE BACHAMPIONSHIP 2008 DATED : 15TH - 20TH APRIL 2008 DATELINE FOR ENTRIES : 28TH MARCH 2008   LAOS FUTURE SERIES 2008 DATED : 23RD - 27TH APRIL 2008 DATELINE FOR ENTRIES : 24TH MARCH 2008

HONG KONG GIRLS MAKE IT TO JAKARTA!
Monday, 03 Mar 2008
  Hong Kong Flag The wait is finally over for Hong Kong . The island state is now confirmed as the 12 th nation to the Uber Cup Finals in Jakarta in May. This development is the result of a ruling affecting qualification of the fourth-placed teams in the Asian and European preliminaries to the Finals.                                       Uber Cup   The Uber Cup tournament statue stipulates that the top three teams in the Asian and European preliminaries qualify automatically along with defending champion, the host and the winners of the Oceania, Africa and Pan American zones. This would total eleven nations. The 12 th team is to come from either Asia or Europe . This is to be determined through the international ranking position of the fourth-placed teams in the two preliminaries as on 29 th February 2008. The higher ranked team will advance to the Final Round.                                                                                         For full result, please refer to :- http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=19467

HONG KONG LADIES TO AWAIT THE 29TH FEB. DECISION
Monday, 25 Feb 2008
Malaysia , Korea and Japan confirmed ‘double’ tickets to the Final Round of the Thomas and Uber Cup competitions in Jakarta at the close of the Asian Zone preliminary round in Ho Chi Minh City last night. They now join China and Indonesia , holders and host respectively as Asian representatives to both the men’s and ladies events at the 12-nation Cups series beginning 11 th May 2008.   With the five continental qualification rounds completed, the finalist to the Thomas Cup series have been confirmed while the 12 th team to the Uber Cup competition will only be officially confirmed at the end of this month. This is due to a new ruling by Badminton World Federation which allows for the combined top seven strongest teams of Europe and Asia to be represented at this foremost team championship in the sport.   With the top three in their respective preliminaries qualifying automatically, the 7 th team enroute Jakarta , will be the fourth-placed team in the Asian and European qualifiers which enjoys a higher international ranking on 29 th February 2008. The two on this list are Scotland and Hong Kong .   With the exception of the 12 th team, the Uber Cup nations that will see action in Jakarta in mid-May are China (holders), Indonesia (host), Japan , Korea , Malaysia (Asia), Denmark , Netherlands , Germany (Europe), United States (PanAm), South Africa (Africa) and New Zealand ( Oceania ).   In the Thomas Cup series, the finalists are China as holders and Indonesia as host; Korea , Japan , Malaysia and Thailand from Asia; Denmark , England and Germany will provide European challenge; Africa will be represented by Nigeria while Canada will carry the Pan American hopes. New Zealand from the Oceania region will complete the list.   In Ho Chi Minh City last night, Malaysia edged out Korea for a 3-2 win and a place as champions in the preliminary while Japan took third place with a 3-1 win over Thailand . India beat Hong Kong for fifth place with China Taipei and Singapore sharing the 7 th /8 th places.   In the Uber cup series, the Korean girls came out 3-1 winners over Japan to win the title with Malaysia taking the automatic third slot with a 3-0 score against Hong Kong . Singapore beat Thailand for 5 th place with India and China Taipei coming in 7 th & 8 th .   “The Ho Chi Minh preliminary was an unqualified success”, said Karen Koh, chief operating officer, Badminton Asia Confederation. “The standard of performance was high though China and Indonesia were not there. The reward of a place in the final of the foremost team championship in the world was incentive enough to bring out the best from players.” For online results : http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=19467

ROBOT THOMAS & UBER CUP, ASIAN ZONE 2008 FINALS RESULTS
Sunday, 24 Feb 2008
FINALS OF UBER CUP QUALIFIERS 1ST: KOREA TEAM 2ND: JAPAN TEAM 3RD: MALAYSIA TEAM 4TH: HONG KONG CHINA TEAM (To Compare Ranking with Europe Qualifiers 4th) FINALS OF THOMAS CUP QUALIFIERS 1ST:   MALAYSIA TEAM 2ND:  KOREA TEAM 3RD:   JAPAN TEAM 4TH: THAILAND TEAM

KOREA ENTERS TWO FINALS
Sunday, 24 Feb 2008
Japan endured 261 minutes of agony before subduing a gritty Malaysia in one semi-final of the Uber Cup Preliminary round competition in Ho Chi Min City last night. The two teams were pretty similarly ranked in strength and little surprise that the result had to be determined in the very last match of the tie - the third singles. This is very reminiscent of the Japan-Chinese Taipei quarter-final match in their Thomas Cup encounter. The hero then was the young Tago Kenichi who won the crucial match and the tie for Japan .   This time around, the Japanese supporters found a heroine in Hirayama Yu. With the games tied at 2-2, Hirayama knew that she had to win if Japan was to secure an automatic passage to the Finals in Jakarta in May. Losing semi-finalists would need to play for third and fourth placing and the fate of the fourth-placed team making it to Jakarta would depend on its ranking against a similarly-placed team in the European qualifier based on 29 th February ranking list. Probably the Japanese did not want to live through another agonizing wait. And Hirayama made certain that it did not happen again by rising to the occasion and completely overwhelming Lydia Cheah 21-16, 21-13 for the 3-2 winning margin.   This third singles was the shortest match of the Japan-Malaysia encounter. Except for the opening singles where the world no. 7 Wong Mew Choo got Malaysia to a great start against Hirose Eriko in straight games, the following three matches ran into the ‘rubber’.   Malaysia lost the first doubles to Ogura & Shota before Julia Wong shocked the higher ranked Kaori Mori. Japan then fourth back and tied the score in the second doubles through Maksuda & Akao. With two wins each, Hirayama then sealed the tie. The Japanese will now meet the Koreans in the Final later this evening.   Korea had a slow start against Hong Kong when Sae Youn lost to Wang Chen in the first match but won the three remaining matches to secure a place in the final and an automatic berth to the Indonesian capital in May.   Hong Kong and Malaysia will sort out the third and fourth placing.   In Thomas Cup encounter, both Malaysia and Korea were markedly superior in both the singles and the doubles against Thailand and Japan respectively. Fielding their top selection of Park Sung Hwan, Lee Hyun Il and the pairing of Jung Jae & Yong Dae, the Koreans breezed through on fourth gear against a Japanese side that seem quite content with a place in the last four.   Robot Thomas & Uber Cups Preliminaries Asia Zone 2008 Results

NOTICE OF CHANGE OF SCHEDULE
Saturday, 23 Feb 2008
WORLD TEAM EVENTS FOR ROBOT THOMAS & UBER CUPS QUALIFYING ROUNDS FOR ASIA ZONE 2008     Please be informed of the change of notice of change of schedule for Thomas Cup Team Play Off for 5 th and 6 th Placing   (suppose to play on 24 th Feb 2008 at 0900hrs)   will be played taday 23 rd Feb 2008 at 1830hrs between HONGKONG CHINA   and   INDIA     Schedule of Play and nomination of team players is as per attached.       SURASAK SONGVORAKULPAN Referee 23th Feb 2008 ROBOT Thomas & Uber Cups Preliminaries Asia Zone 2008 Results

THE MEN ARE THROUGH, THE LADIES HANG ON
Saturday, 23 Feb 2008
In the Asian Zone Thomas Cup preliminary Round in Ho Chi Minh City , Japan ’s hero on the night that mattered was the young former Asian junior champion Tako Kenichi. With its match against Chinese Taipei tied at 2-2, the decision as who would go on to Jakarta depended on the outcome of the fifth match, the third singles. This was a quarter-final tie.   Tago took on Hsieh Hsuan Yi and cruised to an unexpectedly comfortable 21-8, 21-17 victory. With that win, Japan joined Malaysia , Korea and Thailand as one of four teams from the Asian Zone preliminary to qualify to the Jakarta Finals in May.   In another quarter-final match, Malaysia had scant problem easing past India 3-0. Fielding its first-call players Lee Chong Wei, Wong Choon Hann and the time-tested pair of Tan Fook and Wan Wah, the three points came in double-quick time.   Korea anchored by Lee Hyun Il and Park Sung Hwan also closed proceedings against Hong Kong in the first three matches, winning the singles and the first doubles for an unassailable 3-0 lead.

THE DAY OF RECKONING ARRIVES
Friday, 22 Feb 2008
Today, the dream of eight nations for Thomas and Uber Cup glory will come to an end at the Tan Son Nhat Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City . After three days on intense competition that saw 14 men and 11 ladies national teams compete for four places each to the final round of the two coveted trophies in Jakarta in May, the top eight in each Draw of the preliminaries have been decided. This afternoon, quarter-final matches will determine the final four.   Those countries whose dreams have already gone up in smoke and will not be part of the quarter-finalists are host Vietnam , Philippines , Cambodia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Macau in the Thomas Cup series and Sri Lanka , Cambodia and Vietnam in Uber Cup competition. The focus will now be on the eight quarter-finalists in the two competitions.   Generally there were no surprises up to this point of the tournament. The early favourites faced little anxiety getting to the last eight. In Thomas Cup series, Malaysia , Korea , Japan and Thailand completed the preliminary round-robin with maximum points while Chinese Taipei, Singapore , India and Hong Kong did enough to secure runner-up positions in their respective groups.   The moment of truth for these second-placed teams arrives today as they square-up against group champions for a place to the last four and an automatic trip to Jakarta . For them, this is the battle for survival and the prospects are daunting enough to bring sweat to their brows. The quarter-final draw will see the very powerful Malaysia take on an inconsistent India , Singapore will play Thailand , Chinese Taipei will face Japan and Korea will meet Hong Kong .   The Japan-Chinese Taipei and Singapore-Thailand encounters are expected to be   close. The teams are pretty evenly balanced and on any given day any one of the four could having a winning advantage. At the other end, Malaysia and Korea should be decidedly too strong for India and Hong Kong   Robot Thomas & Uber Cups Preliminaries Asia Zone 2008 Results

GROUP LEADERSHIP TUSSLE BEGINS
Thursday, 21 Feb 2008
Malaysia , Chinese Taipei, India , Japan , Hong Kong and Thailand sailed safely past the early round-robin stage of the preliminaries of the Thomas Cup in the Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh and are now a game away from the respective group leadership.   The Malaysians using a combination of their top and backup players recorded 5-0 wins over the Philippines and Cambodia to secure maximum points in Group A . Chinese Taipei recorded similar scores against the two minnows and will now take on Malaysia to determine group leadership.   In Group B, Korea is virtually assured of a place in the playoff for top group position after its white-wash win over Singapore two days ago. Its match against the lowly Vietnam will be a mere formality since Singapore had already beaten the host 4-1 in an earlier match. A Korean win over Vietnam will assure it the top spot in the group.   Group C has Japan and India poised to fight out for the top rung. Pakistan , the only other team in the group lost both its games.   With Sri Lanka and Macau providing scant opposition, Thailand and Hong Kong are through with two wins each. Their clash today will sort out who heads Group D .       Robot Thomas & Uber Cups Preliminaries Asia Zone 2008 Results