Thomas and Uber Cup: Indian badminton teams handed comfortable draws
The men’s team is grouped with China, Netherlands and Tahiti while the women’s team is placed with Thailand, Spain and Scotland. The Thomas and Uber Cup will be played in October.
The Indian badminton teams were handed relatively easy draws at the Thomas and Uber Cup which will be held in Denmark from October 9-17.
The Thomas Cup is the official world team championship for men and the Uber Cup is the women’s equivalent. The biennial event will return to Europe for the first time since 1982.
The Indian men’s team was grouped alongside third seeds China, the Netherlands and Tahiti in Group C of the Thomas Cup while the women shuttlers were in Group B of the Uber Cup along with Thailand, Spain and Scotland.
The top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout stage of the competition.
While the Indian men’s team has never won a Thomas Cup medal, the women’s team clinched bronze at the 2014 and the 2016 editions.
The latest edition of the Thomas and Uber Cup was initially slated to be played in August last year, but the Badminton World Federation (BWF) postponed the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan was to organise the event in October last year, but the BWF was forced to further postpone the event by a year following the withdrawals of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea from the competition.
With a number of events on the BWF Tour being called off or postponed due to the varying COVID-19 conditions around the world, the Thomas and Uber Cup will be the second international event of the season post the Tokyo Olympics.
Finland is set to host the 2021 Sudirman Cup. The world mixed badminton team championships are scheduled from September 26 to October 3.