SUDIRMAN CUP 2011 – Group draws out

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has released the draws for the Sudirman Cup World Mixed Team Championships, to be held in Qingdao, China late next month.  Japan, fresh off success at the Grand Prix Gold Australia Open, will start in Group A along with top-seeded China and with Germany.  The bottom team in the elite Level 1, Russia, will have to fend with Southeast Asia’s arch-rivals Indonesia and Malaysia while India, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand duke it out in Group C.

‘D’ is for Group of Death this year as 2009 runners-up Korea plays a supporting role to second seeds Denmark while England rounds off the trio.  Denmark, despite an uncharacteristic failure to make the semis of the last two editions, is firmly in the number two spot in the BWF’s new team ranking system.  All three teams are traditional powers in mixed doubles, though Korea is still rebuilding in that discipline and injuries have plagued Denmark’s pairs.

The next echelon is headed up by seeds Hong Kong and the Netherlands but, unlike in previous editions, they are not competing for promotion as the echelon groupings have been based on team rankings rather than past results.

The Level 1 groupings are as follows:

For complete Sudirman group draws, CLICK HERE