1961 Thomas Cup
| Tournament details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 1 – 11 June 1961 | ||
| Edition | 5th | ||
| Level | International | ||
| Nations | 5 | ||
| Venue | Istora Gelora Bung Karno | ||
| Location | Jakarta,Indonesia | ||
| |||
The1961 Thomas Cupcompetition is an international team tournament for supremacy in men's badminton (Its female counterpart is theUber Cup). Beginning in1948–49it was held every three years until1982and thereafter every two years. Nineteen teams, eighteen of them starting from four regional qualifying zones, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Pan America, contested for the Thomas Cup during the 1960-1961 seasons. Zone winners then played-off in Jakarta, Indonesia for the right to face defending championIndonesia(exempt from all earlier ties), in a conclusivechallenge round.For a more detailed description of the Thomas Cup format, see Wikipedia's general article on theThomas Cup.
This was the first ever international multi-sport event hosted by Indonesia, who was only 15 years old at the time. The venue was theIstora Gelora Bung Karno,which was only opened on 11 days before the tournament.
Qualification
[edit]| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Slot | Qualified teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 Thomas Cup | 5 – 15 June 1958 | Singapore | 1 |  Indonesia
|
| Asian Zone | 30 July 1961 – 29 March 1961 | Bangkok Hong Kong Lahore |
1 |  Thailand
|
| American Zone | 24 – 25 February 1961 | Toronto | 1 |  United States
|
| European Zone | 14 November 1961 – 12 March 1961 | Greenock Derry Paris Southend-on-Sea Stockholm Trollhättan |
1 |  Denmark
|
| Australasian Zone | 22 – 23 July 1961 | Feilding Melbourne |
1 | Indonesia
|
| Total | 5 | |||
Despite missing its best known singles player,Charoen Wattanasin,Thailandagain prevailed in the Asian zone by beating, consecutively, India (6–3), three time former champion Malaya (7–2), and Pakistan (8–1). Of note in these ties, the talentedNandu Natekarhad a hand in all of the individual matches which India salvaged, while Malaya'sEddie Choong,well past his prime at a fairly young age, was routinely beaten in both of his singles. No player on Thailand's team was more than twenty-four years old.
For the second straight time Japan defaulted an Australasian zone tie, this time allowingAustralia,led by Kenneth Turner, to advance to the inter-zone phase after its 8–1 victory over New Zealand. Star-studdedDenmarkcoasted through three ties in the European zone, shutting out its usual victim England in the zone final. The same two-wayAmerican zonerace ended as before with theUnited Statesbeating Canada 7–2. EvergreenJoe AlstonandWynn Rogersstill led the way in doubles for the USA which also had a small but competent cadre of international level singles players.
Squads
[edit]Knockout stage
[edit]The following teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1961 Thomas Cup. Defending champion and host Indonesia automatically qualified to defend their title.
Bracket
[edit]| First round | Second round | Challenge round | ||||||||
| Indonesia | ||||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||||
| Indonesia | ||||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||||
| 10 June 1961 – Jakarta | ||||||||||
| Indonesia | 6 | |||||||||
| 1 June 1958 – Jakarta | ||||||||||
| Thailand | 3 | |||||||||
 Australia | 0 | |||||||||
| 6 June 1961 – Jakarta | ||||||||||
| Thailand | 9 | |||||||||
| Thailand | 7 | |||||||||
| 3 June 1958 – Jakarta | ||||||||||
| Denmark | 2 | |||||||||
 United States | 2 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 7 | |||||||||
First round
[edit]Second round
[edit]Final
[edit]
| 1961 Thomas Cup winner |
|---|
 Indonesia Second title |
References
[edit]- tangkis.tripod
- Mike's Badminton PopulorumArchived2016-03-30 at theWayback Machine
- Herbert Scheele, TheInternational Badminton Federation Handbook for 1967(Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd., 1967) 82.
- Pat Davis, TheGuinness Book of Badminton(Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlative Ltd., 1983). 122.
