Saunders heads Sudirman Cup team

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

NIGELLA SAUNDERS will lead a team of Jamaica's top five badminton players to compete in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships held in Beijing China from May 10 to May 15.

The tournament, held biannually, is one of the most prestigious in the world of badminton. It will see entries from some 55 countries and roughly 800 players competing in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.

The team Jamaica has fielded, in addition to Saunders who participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics, some of Jamaica's top players. They include her training partner Charles Pyne, Bradley Graham, a dominant figure in local and Caribbean tournaments, Garon Palmer and Alya Lewis. Jamaica have been placed in Group 6 along with Sri Lanka and Mongolia

Participation of the team in the 2005 Sudirman Cup has been made possible by the generosity of the Chinese Embassy in Jamaica, as they have sponsored return tickets for the five-
member team. This is the second time in recent months that the Jamaica Badminton Association has benefited from the charity of the Chinese embassy.

Recently, the People's Republic of China, through the embassy, contributed a large donation of racquets and shuttle cocks to enhance training and development of the sport in local schools and inner city communities.