India settles for bronze in Uber Cup
India's Uber Cup badminton championship hopes came to an with Indian women losing 0-3 to China in the semi-finals. Ace shuttlers Saina and Sindhu lost their singles matches while Jwala Gutta and Sikki Reddy were beaten in the doubles. This meant India was left with a broze. The 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie was enough for China for a place in the finals.
Thomas & Uber Cup championships
Thomas & Uber Cups, or specifically, the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup, refer to world badminton team championships for men and women, respectively. Thomas Cup or Men's World Team Championships was first held in 1948-49, and the Uber Cup or Women's World Team Championships was played for the first time in 1956-57. Both the championships, played biennially, have been held together since 1984.
Most successful teams
Thomas Cup has only been won by four countries with Indonesia winning most titles (13), followed by China and Malaysia. Japan are the defending champions. China has been the most successful team of Uber Cup tournament with 13 titles. They are also the defending champs.
2016 Thomas & Uber Cup : Schedule, format
The BWF Thomas and Uber Cup 2016 was scheduled to be held from 15 - 22 May in Kunshan, China. The tournament has a group stage (4 groups of 4 teams each - 16 total teams), and Knock stage consisting of Quarter finals, Semis and Finals. In the group stage, top two teams from every group - 8 teams, proceed to quarter-finals.
Group Stage - Round robin
Group Stage is contested in a round robin format where every team plays other teams in its group once. Hence, every team plays 3 matches and every group plays a total of 6 matches.
Group Stage draws - Men and Women
Thomas Cup group stage draw: China, Japan, France, Mexico (Group A); Indonesia, India, Thailand, Hong kong (Group B); Korea, Malaysia, England, Germany (Group C); and Denmark, Taipei, New Zealand, South Africa (Group D). Uber Cup draw: China, Denmark, Spain, Malaysia (Group A); Korea,Taipei, Mauritius, USA (Group B); Thailand, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Hong Kong (Group C); and Japan, India, Australia, Germany (Group D).
Indian women qualify for QFs, men exit early
The Indian women's team qualified for the Uber Cup quarterfinals despite suffering a narrow 2-3 loss to Japan in its third and final Group D match. The women's team won 2 out of their 3 matches, finishing in the top two in their group. The men's team on the other hand crashed out of the Thomas Cup losing all of their Group Stage matches.
Group stage results
China, Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Denmark, and Chinese Taipei qualified from the Thomas Cup group stage. China, Denmark, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand Indonesia, Japan, and India qualified for the quarter-finals in the Uber Cup championship.
Thomas Cup quarter-final results
South Korea, in a stunning victory beat China 3-1, denying the hosts a Thomas Cup semi-final place for the first time since their debut in 1981-82. Thomas Cup defending champions Japan too made an exit in the quarters after being beaten by Denmark. The other two teams that booked a berth in the semis of Thomas cup include Malaysia and Indonesia.
Uber Cup Semifinalists
India, Korea, China and Japan beat Thailand, Indonesia, Taipei and Denmark respectively in the Uber cup quarter-finals to move to the Semis.
