Almost 200 players will make the trip to Lisburn for 4 days of World Class Competition at the National Badminton Centre from Thursday December 6th to Sunday December 9th.
For the first time Ireland will have three players ranked in the top 50 in the World – Scott Evans of Leinster at an excellent 45 in Mens Singles and he is good enough for a very strong title challenge in his home Champhionships; - Chloe Magee of Ulster and Karen Bing of Leinster ranked 40 in the World in Womens Doubles and they too will mount a strong title challenge.
Chloe will also be working hard to progress in the Womens Singles as she targets Olympic qualification and looks to improve her current Womens Singles ranking of 74. Scott Evans already holds a ranking that should earn a ticket to Beijing .
For the first time the USA has entered a strong squad led by their World no 25 and number one mixed pair Eva Lee and Howard Bach.
The rush for world ranking points to earn qualification for the Beijing Olympic Games next summer is behind the remarkable international representation from five continents.
For any tournament details contact the Yonex International Press Officer and Badminton Ireland Press Officer Jean Denihan 086 – 3755528 (Mob)or jeandenihan@badminton.ie
Lead picture: Eric Saunders Chairman of Sport NI, Gavin McAuley, Coucillor James Tinsley Mayor of Lisburn, Cris Scott