Thomas Cup

The Thomas Cup is the major men's international team competition in world badminton Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport [i] played by either two opposing players o ...

, also known as "The International Badminton Championship Challenge Cup". It is named after Sir George Alan Thomas, a former IBF International Badminton Federation

The International Badminton Federation is the international governing body [i] for ...

President who donated the Cup in 1939. The first Thomas Cup competition took place at Preston Preston

!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Preston ...

, England England

England is the largest and most populous constituent country [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ...

in 1948-1949. The Thomas Cup is a knock-out competition, the first 12 editions were played once every three years with 9 matches in a tie and played in two days. In 1984 the format changed to five matches played in a day, united with the Uber Cup Uber Cup

The Uber Cup is a major women's international badminton [i] competition, similar to the Thomas Cup [i] f ...

playing in a same venue.

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Encyclopedia

The Thomas Cup is the major men's international team competition in world badminton Badminton

The International Badminton Federation is the international governing body [i] for ...

President who donated the Cup in 1939. The first Thomas Cup competition took place at Preston Preston

!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Preston
...

, England England

England is the largest and most populous constituent country [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ...

in 1948-1949.

The Thomas Cup is a knock-out competition, the first 12 editions were played once every three years with 9 matches in a tie and played in two days. In 1984 the format changed to five matches played in a day, united with the Uber Cup Uber Cup

The Uber Cup is a major women's international badminton [i] competition, similar to the Thomas Cup [i] f ...

playing in a same venue. From 1992 the IBF decided to change the match order due to the superiority of men singles.

From 2000 the knockout phase of the matches was terminated once the winner of the tie was decided, after the IBF received criticism about the time wasting of playing the remaining matches. However the group phase will keep the traditional progression of full five matches.

Trophy

Manufactured in London London

London is the capital [i] city of England [i] and of the United Kingdom [i]. ...

, the trophy is silverplated, 28 inches high and 16 inches wide, handles included. The trophy is in three parts: a plinth, a bowl and a lid. On top of the lid is a figure of a player. On the back of the bowl and on the plinth the winning names are printed.

Format

Thomas Cup has two stages to be played: qualification and finals. Both are played in a venue decided by IBF.

Qualification

The qualification is the pre-tournament before the final. The format is set based on the region, qualification, and teams participating. After the tournament grew from 8 to 12 teams in the finals, Asia Asia

Asia is the largest and most populous continent [i] or region, depending on the definition....

were awarded 4 places, 3 places for Europe Europe

Europe is one of the seven traditional continent [i]s of the Earth [i]. ...

and one each to Oceania Oceania

Oceania is a geographical [i], often geopolitical [i], region [i] consisting of n ...

, Americas Americas

he Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere [i] or New World [i] consisting o ...

and Africa Africa

Africa is one of the greatest sized continents of the Earth....

. The remaining two places were given automatically to the defending champion and host country.

Final tournament

The finals of the tournament combine the format of round robin and a knockout stage. 12 teams are divided into 4 groups with 2 round robin tournament matches played for every team. The group winner goes into the quarter finals. The group runners-up and second runners-up will seal their fate in the play-offs, playing with another group runners-up teams and second runners-up teams before reaching the quarter finals. After the quarter finals follows the semi finals and final.

Past Winners

Year	Host	Final			Third place
Year	Host	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Third place
1949 details	Preston Preston !colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"\|City of Preston ... , England England England is the largest and most populous constituent country [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ...	Malaya	8–1	Denmark
1952 details	Singapore Singapore Singapore, formally the Republic of Singapore , is an island [i] city-state [i] and ... , Malaya Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia is the part of Malaysia [i] which lies on the Malay Peninsula [i], and shares a lan ...	Malaya	7–2	United States
1955 details	Singapore Singapore Singapore, formally the Republic of Singapore , is an island [i] city-state [i] and ... , Malaya Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia is the part of Malaysia [i] which lies on the Malay Peninsula [i], and shares a lan ...	Malaya	8–1	Denmark
1958 details 1958 Thomas Cup The 1958 Thomas Cup was held in Singapore [i], Malaya [i]. ...	Singapore Singapore Singapore, formally the Republic of Singapore , is an island [i] city-state [i] and ... , Malaya Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia is the part of Malaysia [i] which lies on the Malay Peninsula [i], and shares a lan ...	Indonesia	6–3	Malaya
1961 details 1961 Thomas Cup The 1961 Thomas Cup was held in Jakarta [i], Indonesia [i]. ...	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	Indonesia	6–3	Thailand
1964 details 1964 Thomas Cup The 1964 Thomas Cup was held in Tokyo [i], Japan [i]. ...	Tokyo Tokyo listen is one of the 47 prefectures [i] of Japan [i] and is the location of its capital [i] ... , Japan Japan is an island country [i] in East Asia [i]. ...	Indonesia	5–4	Denmark
1967 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	Malaysia	6–3	Indonesia
1970 details	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital city [i], legislative capital of Malaysia [i] and the largest city in the c... , Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963. ...	Indonesia	7–2	Malaysia
1973 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	Indonesia	8–1	Denmark
1976 details	Bangkok Bangkok Bangkok, known in Thai [i] as Krung Thep , is the capital [i] and largest city of Thailand [i]... , Thailand Thailand The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia [i], bordering Laos [i] and Cambodia [i] to the e ...	Indonesia	9–0	Malaysia
1979 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	Indonesia	9–0	Denmark
1982 details	London London London is the capital [i] city of England [i] and of the United Kingdom [i]. ... , England England England is the largest and most populous constituent country [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ...	China	5–4	Indonesia
1984 details	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital city [i], legislative capital of Malaysia [i] and the largest city in the c... , Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963. ...	Indonesia	3–2	China
1986 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	China	3–2	Indonesia
1988 details	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital city [i], legislative capital of Malaysia [i] and the largest city in the c... , Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963. ...	China	4–1	Malaysia
1990 details	Tokyo Tokyo listen is one of the 47 prefectures [i] of Japan [i] and is the location of its capital [i] ... , Japan Japan is an island country [i] in East Asia [i]. ...	China	3–2	Malaysia
1992 details	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital city [i], legislative capital of Malaysia [i] and the largest city in the c... , Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963. ...	Malaysia	3–2	Indonesia
1994 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	Indonesia	3–0	Malaysia
1996 details	Hong Kong Hong Kong The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is one of the two special administrative regions [i] ...	Indonesia	5–0	Denmark
1998 details	Hong Kong Hong Kong The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is one of the two special administrative regions [i] ... , China SAR	Indonesia	3–2	Malaysia
2000 details	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital city [i], legislative capital of Malaysia [i] and the largest city in the c... , Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963. ...	Indonesia	3–0	China
2002 details 2002 Thomas & Uber Cup The 2002 Thomas & Uber Cup was held in Guangzhou [i], China [i] from May 9 to...	Guangzhou Guangzhou Guangzhou is the capital [i] of Guangdong [i] Province [i] in southern [i] ... , China China China is a cultural region [i] and ancient civilization [i] in East Asia [i]. ...	Indonesia	3–2	Malaysia
2004 details 2004 Thomas & Uber Cup The 2004 Thomas & Uber Cup was held from May 7 to May 16, 2004 in Senayan, Indonesia [i]. ...	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...	China	3–1	Denmark	Korea	Indonesia
2006 details 2006 Thomas & Uber Cup The 2006 Thomas & Uber Cup was held from April 28 to May 7 in Sendai [i] and Tokyo [i], Japan [i]. ...	Sendai Sendai, Miyagi is the capital city [i] of Miyagi Prefecture [i], Japan [i], and the largest city in the Tohoku [i] ... and Tokyo Tokyo listen is one of the 47 prefectures [i] of Japan [i] and is the location of its capital [i] ... , Japan Japan is an island country [i] in East Asia [i]. ...	China	3–0	Denmark	Indonesia	Malaysia
2008 details	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta , formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital [i] and ... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...

Successful national teams

So far, only three countries had won the event with Indonesia Indonesia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a nation of islands [i] consist ...

is the most successful team with 13 title followed by People's Republic of China People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , is a country [i] in East Asia [i]. ...

and Malaysia Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation [i] of 13 states [i] in Southeast Asia [i], formed in 1963.
...

. Surprisingly, Thomas Cup was only stayed in Continental of Asia Asia

Asia is the largest and most populous continent [i] or region, depending on the definition....

even Denmark Denmark

The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries [i]....

had reached the final eight times, but unable to win it.

Team	Titles	Winning Years	Runners-up
	13	1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1984, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002	4
	6	1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2004, 2006	2
	5	1949, 1952, 1955, 1967, 1992*	8
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8
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1
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1