China to host Sudirman Cup for first time with 42 teams

The Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championship will attract 42 teams to China in May for the first time, confirmed the sport's world governing body on Thursday.

In a press release to Xinhua, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) said that China is expected to exploit its home advantage to retake the Cup, won by South Korea two years ago.

The championship, scheduled to open on May 10, will have its draw on 21st in Beijing for Group A, which features defending champion South Korea, Indonesia, Denmark, England, Sweden, Thailand, China and Chinese Hong Kong.

Only the eight teams in Group A are eligible to contend for the title.

Other teams who have confirmed their participation are Armenia, Australia, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States and Wales.

Sudirman Cup is one of the three major international badminton competitions, apart from the Thomas Cup for the men's teams and Uber Cup for the women's teams.

The mixed team championship, initiated in 1989 to commemorate former IBF vice president Dick Sudirman of Indonesia, is a biennial tournament on a best-of-five format, featuring both the men's and women's singles and doubles as well as the mixed doubles.

Indonesia won the inaugural trophy, and China has won four in a row from 1995 to 2001 to bag home half of the eight titles, with the other three taken by South Korea.

Source: Xinhua