Suhandinata Cup draw

Kuala Lumpur, Mar 26, 2014: Defending Suhandinata Cup champions – Korea – will face off against Botswana, Mongolia and Singapore in the opening salvos of this year’s Junior Mixed Team Championship to be held next month in Alor Setar, Malaysia.

Following the draw at Badminton World Federation’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, the Koreans were placed in sub-group W1 and would be expected to progress easily from the round-robin phase to vie for the top spot in Group W. In sub-group W2, the teams are the Netherland, Russia, South Africa and Thailand.

Last year’s runners-up, Indonesia, will have to contend with Canada, Germany and Sri Lanka in sub-group X1 while sub-group Y1 has Armenia, France, Japan and Spain. China, who finished third a year ago, is grouped alongside Slovenia, USA and Vietnam in Group Z1.

The remaining sub-groups are: Group X2 (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Macau and Philippines,); Group Y2 (Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, Egypt and England) and Group Z2 (Australia, India, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Zambia). The draw consists of 35 teams divided into eight sub-groups. Five of these have four teams each, while three have five teams.

The Junior Mixed Team Championship segment of the BWF World Junior Championships 2014 will be conducted in a round-robin league format in each group followed by elimination. Each tie will be determined on best-of-five matches, with one match from Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. The group play-offs (X1 versus X2, Y1 versus Y2, etc.) will determine the four semi-finalists. The losing teams will also battle to determine eventual team rankings.

Started in 2000, the Junior Mixed Team Championship was initially a biennial event but became an annual competition after 2006. China has been the most successful team, claiming the trophy eight times. Korea (2006 and 2013) and Malaysia (2011) are the only other teams to taste success.

This year’s tournament will be held 7-11 April at Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in the northern city of Alor Setar in Kedah which hosted the 2009 edition also. The Suhandinata Cup competition will be followed by the individual championships for the Eye Level Cups. —-BWF