May 11, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1428

LONDON, May 10: Defending champions and top seeds China were drawn on Thursday against fourth seeds Malaysia, seventh seeds England and sixth seeds Thailand in Group 1A of next month's Sudirman Cup.

The world mixed team badminton tournament is to be held at Scotstoun International Sports Arena in Glasgow from June 11-17.

Second seeds and European champions Denmark are in Group 1B and they will face two former champions in South Korea and Indonesia, plus Hong Kong in the round-robin group stages.

The winners of Group 1A play the runners-up in Group 1B and the winners of Group 1B face the runners-up in Group 1A in the semi-finals on June 16 with the final the next day.

Anne Smillie, head of the Sudirman Cup organising committee, said in a statement: “There are so many good players in the teams in the top division that the fans are assured real top-quality badminton.”

Top performers include Lin Dan, China's world champion, and Taufik Hidayat, Indonesia's Olympic champion.

A total of 49 nations have entered, including Iceland, Mongolia, Latvia and Luxembourg who will do battle in Group Seven, the lowest division.—Reuters