Badminton drawing rescheduled for July 26

(BEIJING, July 8) -- The draw for the Beijing Olympic Games badminton competitions will take place on July 26, stated a Badminton World Federation (BWF) announcement. The drawing is to take place 8 days ahead of the originally scheduled date.

The change is, according to the BWF, due to requests from television broadcasters who want to better schedule broadcast times and arrange advertisements for the badminton competitions, which will take place on Day One of the Beijing Games.

The drawing was previously slated to take place on August 4, just a few days ahead of the first badminton competition. That would leave little time for scheduling and advertisement planning. Television broadcasters and rights holders had expressed wishes that the draw be rescheduled. The recent news was received with much joy.

"Badminton will be one of the last sports to have finalized its draw for the Olympic Games and this is welcome news for broadcasters who have been pressuring BOCOG for earlier information on the schedule of play for Day One," said Stuart Borrie, BWF Secretary General, according to the BWF announcement.

"TV rights holders complete scheduling of programs and advertising well in advance and an earlier draw date for the first round of badminton is important for the sport and its reach on the first few days of competition," Borrie added.

Liu Wenbin, deputy director of the Sports Department of BOCOG, welcomed the BWF decision.

According to the BWF, a panel consisting of BWF president Dr. Kang Young Joong, BWF technical delegate to the Games Paisan Rangsikitpho, BWF Sports Committee deputy chairman Torsten Berg and tournament referee Dennis Li, will oversee the draw.

The draw ceremony will be held at the Beijing Henan Plaza Hotel starting at four o'clock on the afternoon of July 26. The official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will provide live updates.