Thomas Cup: How Badminton Fans Are Excited For Tournaments

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Tournaments certainly excite the fans irrespective of the sport including Badminton. The shuttlers shed their sweat and tears on the court with their eyes set on the trophy they are competing for. All major sports with a huge base of patrons and enthusiasts boast high-powered tournaments and competitive events. These events have a multifold purpose-they raise the game’s overall performance, bringing international enthusiasts on a common platform, and enhance the sport’s popularity. International Badminton Federation (IBF), now known as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the major body governing and it runs all the major badminton tournaments in the world including the coveted Thomas Cup.

Badminton fans love to witness the Thomas Cup

Badminton as a game enjoyed huge popularity from the late 1800s. In the aftermath of the World War II, diminishing resources experienced worldwide affected the sport too. The Thomas Cup was the comeback for the sport in its true spirit as the first International Men’s competition held in 1948-49.

The trophy was presented by Sir George Allan Thomas, after whom the Cup is named. The Thomas Cup is a team championships tournament for men, while the women’s equivalent to it is The Uber Cup, an international badminton team championship competition introduced in 1956-57. The Thomas and Uber cups are held once every two years, and have undergone several format changes during the period. Aspiring shuttlers can get badminton advice from the coaches by diving into the historic matches in the past.

At the beginning, there were three qualifying zones- America, Europe and the Pacific. This format continued till the early 1980s. As the number of nations participating in the game grew, changes accompanied the same. Additional zones were added and winners among these zones competed to churn out challengers for the leading champion nation.

After revamping the formats, the Thomas and Uber Cups were held concurrently. The ties in various stages were reduced to five from nine in the earlier formats. Badminton fanatics get enthralled with the memorable outcomes of the tournaments. For example, India’s maiden Thomas Cup victory in 2022 after clinching a 3-0 emphatic win. They managed to dethrone the title-holders Indonesia and made a huge statement.

Thomas Cup is the most exciting tournament held in Badminton and has given us some of the most iconic matches out there. The most dominant team has been Indonesia with 14 titles. China trails Indonesia by just 10 titles, but the Asian giant didn’t start competing in the league until 1980s. China is followed by Malaysia with 5 title wins and then comes India, Japan, Denmark with one titles each. Another Asian Tiger South Korea also competes in this tournament, but have never won it. They are however a two-time runner ups of the Thomas Cup.

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