Indian badminton teams get good draw in 2022 Thomas and Uber Cup

India received a favorable draw in the 2022 Thomas and Uber Cup which will get underway in Bangkok on May 8 and will conclude on May 15. The draw for Thomas and the Uber Cup took place in the host city of Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.

Formidable Indonesia are the defending champions in the Thomas Cup. In the women’s Uber Cup, China are the defending champions.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has divided the participating 16 teams into four groups. Each group consists of four nations. The top two teams from each group will reach the knock-out stage of the quarter-finals.

The Indian men’s team is in Group C, which is led by Chinese Taipei. Germany and Canada complete the four-member group.

Thomas Cup men’s champions Indonesia were drawn in Group A with South Korea, hosts Thailand and Singapore. Denmark top Group B with China, France and Algeria, while Group D will feature Japan, Malaysia, England and New Zealand.

India eves in Group D along with South Korea, Canada and USA

In the women’s Uber Cup draw, India will be part of the Group D. 2010 champions South Korea, Canada and the United States are the other teams in Group D.

Defending champions China were drawn into Group B with rivals Chinese Taipei, Spain and Australia.

Group A is 2018 champions Japan, Indonesia, France and Germany, while Group C consists of hosts Thailand, Denmark, Malaysia and Egypt.

The Thomas and Uber Cup is a biennial team competition – essentially the men’s and women’s world team championships – that last took place in October 2021 in Aarhus, Denmark. Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

India reached the quarter-finals in both divisions, losing 1-3 to hosts Denmark in the Thomas Cup and 0-3 to Japan in the Uber Cup.

If everything goes well, both the Indian teams should at least reach the quarter-finals in this year’s edition. Each team includes three singles players and two doubles pairs in best-of-five match ties.

India’s top players PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, and men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are in good form this season.

India have never made it past the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, but did make it to the semi-finals in back-to-back editions of the Uber Cup, in 2014 and 2016.

Draws

Thomas Cup (Men)

Group A: Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore

Group B: Denmark, China, France, Algeria

Group C: Chinese Taipei, India, Germany, Canada

Group D: Japan, Malaysia, England, New Zealand

Uber Cup (Women)

Group A: Japan, Indonesia, France, Germany

Group B: China, Chinese Taipei, Spain, Australia

Group C: Thailand, Denmark, Malaysia, Egypt

Group D: South Korea, India, Canada, USA.