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The 27th Thomas Cup and 24th Uber Cup Finals are being held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. We offer you some interesting facts about the two events:
-The Thomas Cup or Men’s World Team Championships was first staged in 1948-49, and the Uber Cup or Women’s World Team Championships was added for the first time in 1956-7.
-The Thomas Cup, or the men’s team championship, was first proposed by the legendary Sir George Thomas, winner of 21 All England titles, administrator and visionary. Sir George instituted and donated the trophy in 1939. Sir George holds the record for the most number of All England titles.
-The silver gilt trophy, 28 inches in height and with 16 inch span consists of plinth, cup and lid; the lid is surmounted by the figure of a player.
-India has reached three Thomas Cup semifinals – in 1951-52; 1954-55 and 1978-79. The format though has constantly changed. The first few editions had an ‘inter-zone final’ which was effectively a semifinal before the ‘Challenge Round’ (final). The Challenge Round was abolished from 1969-70 onwards.
-The Uber Cup Finals have been held alongside the Men’s competition since 1984, with both then taking place biennially.
-Originally, the Thomas Cup consisted of five singles and four doubles matches, with some of the lead singles players even being required to play four matches in two days!
-Sir George Thomas, who envisioned the Thomas Cup, was a brilliant all-round sportsperson. He reached the Wimbledon doubles semifinals in 1911, was a chess Grand Master, and was equally talented at table tennis and hockey. As a soldier in the First World War, he reportedly trekked 385 km on foot with his men in the Mesopotamian desert.
-In the 26 editions of the Thomas Cup since 1948-49, there have been only three winners: Malaya/ Malaysia; Indonesia and China. China has won the last four titles. The Uber Cup has seen five winners in 23 editions: USA, Japan, Indonesia, China and Korea.
-In all its history, only once has the Thomas Cup Final been decided by off-court events. In 1967 at Jakarta, Malaysia took on hosts Indonesia, who had won the title the last three times. However, the Indonesians were a weakened team, and the spectators, sensing a home defeat, began to engage in rowdy behavior. Referee Herbert Scheele stopped play, and after appeals for order went unheeded, awarded the tie to Malaysia. Although Scheele’s decision angered the Indonesians, his stern but fair conducted won the respect of badminton fans, and at a later trip to Indonesia, he was given a rousing welcome.
- The 2012 edition will be Lin Dan‘s sixth Thomas Cup. In the past five, Lin has lost only one in a total of 24 matches. If he leads China to the title this time, Lin will increase his World Champion trophies to 16, an all-time world record.
