The 2002 Thomas and Uber Badminton Cup finals will be held from May 9-19 at Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in southern China.

　　"China is honored that these great events have been awarded to China. It is likewise grateful to the Guangzhou Badminton Association who will play as hosts of the tournament," said Li Furong, vice minister of the State Sports General Administration and chairman of China Badminton Association (CBA).

　　The men's Thomas Cup and women's Uber Cup, which deemed the top badminton teams events in the world, are held every two years. China has participated the Thomas Cup from 1982 and honored four cup triumphs, but in recent eight years, the champion has been Indonesia, another badminton powerhouse in the world.

　　China women's team, the defending champion, have crowned in Uber's Cup for seven times since in 1984.

　　Background

　　The Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup are the badminton events with the most prestige in this sport. Especially the asian nations as Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and China set a high value on this Cups while the other nations could not intervenue in the rivalary. Only the Danes sometimes could be the challenger for this nations.

　　The Thomas Cup, that was named after the first president of the IBF Sir George Thomas, is the World Championships for men`s teams and is played since 1949. The Uber Cup, that was named after the US-national Betty Uber, she is a famous woman athlete because for 25 years has been reliable badminton player.She is the counterpart of the Thomas Cup and is for women`s teams. The Cup was first played in 1957.

　　The first event was held in Lytham St.Annes,England in 1956/1957 and Europes even England have never been the champion of Uber Cup.