The Thomas Cup is the men's team badminton championship . The official name is " The International Badminton Championship Challenge Cup ". The Thomas Cup is one of the five tournaments in the 7 * category worldwide.
The tournament was named after the first IBF President Sir George Alan Thomas , who initiated the competition and donated the trophy. The cup was donated in 1939, the first Thomas Cup took place in 1948/49. Until today, this event has always been won by nations from Asia from the first time until 2014 . Denmark won in 2016. The counterpart for the women is the Uber Cup . These two events have been held together since 1984.
trophy
This three-part trophy was made in 1939 in London by Atkin Bros of London . It is 71.12 cm high and 40.64 cm wide, including the handles. A player's figure is attached to the lid. On the front of the chalice there is the following inscription: "The International Badminton Championship Cup presented to the International Badminton Federation by Sir George Thomas, Bart., 1939". The names of the winning teams are printed on the back of the chalice and on the base.
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Until 1982 the Thomas Cup was held every three years. It has taken place every two years since then.
Up until 1984, nine games were played in the Thomas Cup. Since 1984 only five games have been played, three singles and two doubles. The order is first single, first double, second single, second double, and third single.
There were regional qualification tournaments until 2012. Since 12 teams were able to reach the final round, the following division has applied: Asia has four participants, Europe three, and Oceania , America and Africa one participant each. The two missing places were automatically given to the defending champion and the host. In 2014, the final round participants were determined for the first time by world rankings.
The finals will be played as follows. The twelve teams come in four groups in which everyone has to compete against everyone else. The first in the group then go straight to the quarter-finals. The opponents of the group leaders will be determined from further encounters between the runners-up and thirds. Then it goes on in the knockout system with semi-finals and finals. All games were played until 1998. Since 2000, the final has only been played in the knockout round until the winner has been determined.
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