2008 Thomas & Uber Cup

The 2008 Thomas & Uber Cup was the 25th tournament of the Thomas Cup and 22nd tournament of the Uber Cup, the men's and women's team competition in badminton, respectively. It was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 11 to May 18, 2008.

Contents

Venue

Qualification

Main article: 2008 Thomas & Uber Cup qualification
Confederation Qualifier(s)
Thomas Cup Uber Cup
Asia  Malaysia
 Thailand
 Japan
 Korea		  Korea
 Japan
 Malaysia
 Hong Kong
Africa  Nigeria  South Africa
Europe  Denmark
 England
 Germany		  Denmark
 Netherlands
 Germany
Oceania  New Zealand  New Zealand
Americas  Canada  United States
Defending Champions  China  China
Host nation  Indonesia  Indonesia

Seedings

All the seeding list based on February 28, 2008 world rankings as the draw was conducted on March 11, 2008.[1][2] The top four seeding teams is in first pot, follow by next four teams in the second pot and the bottom four teams was put in the third pot.

Thomas Cup
  1.  China
  2.  Indonesia
  3.  Malaysia
  4.  Denmark
  5.  Korea
  6.  Japan
  7.  Canada
  8.  Germany
  9.  Thailand
  10.  England
  11.  New Zealand
  12.  Nigeria
Uber Cup
  1.  China
  2.  Japan
  3.  Korea
  4.  Malaysia
  5.  Indonesia
  6.  Germany
  7.  Denmark
  8.  Hong Kong
  9.  Netherlands
  10.  New Zealand
  11.  United States
  12.  South Africa

Squads

For more details on this topic, see 2008 Thomas & Uber Cup squads.

Thomas Cup

Groups

Main article: 2008 Thomas Cup group stage

Group A

Team Pts Pld W L
 China 2 2 2 0
 Canada 1 2 1 1
 Nigeria 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
China  5 – 0  Nigeria
Canada  5 – 0  Nigeria
2008-05-12
China  5 – 0  Canada

Group B

Team Pts Pld W L
 Malaysia 2 2 2 0
 England 1 2 1 1
 Korea 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Malaysia  5 – 0  England
2008-05-12
Korea  1 – 4  England
Malaysia  4 – 1  Korea

Group C

Team Pts Pld W L
 Denmark 2 2 2 0
 Japan 1 2 1 1
 New Zealand 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Denmark  5 – 0  New Zealand
2008-05-12
Japan  5 – 0  New Zealand
Denmark  3 – 2  Japan

Group D

Team Pts Pld W L
 Indonesia 2 2 2 0
 Thailand 1 2 1 1
 Germany 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Germany  2 – 3  Thailand
Indonesia  3 – 2  Thailand
2008-05-12
Indonesia  5 – 0  Germany

Knockout stage

Main article: 2008 Thomas Cup knockout stage
Play-offs Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                           
    May 14        
May 13
  China  3
  New Zealand  0 May 16
    Thailand  0  
  Thailand  3     China  3
  May 14
May 13     Malaysia  2  
  Malaysia  3
  Japan  3 May 18
    Japan  0  
  Germany  2     China  3
  May 14
May 13     Korea  1
  Denmark  2
  Canada  0 May 16
    Korea  3  
  Korea  3     Korea  3
  May 14
May 13     Indonesia  0  
  Indonesia  3
  England  3
    England  0  
  Nigeria  0  
 2008 Thomas Cup Champion 

China
Seventh title

Uber Cup

Groups

Main article: 2008 Uber Cup group stage

Group W

Team Pts Pld W L
 China 2 2 2 0
 Germany 1 2 1 1
 United States 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
China  5 – 0  United States
Germany  5 – 0  United States
2008-05-12
China  4 – 1  Germany

Group X

Team Pts Pld W L
 Korea 2 2 2 0
 Hong Kong 1 2 1 1
 South Africa 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Korea  5 – 0  South Africa
2008-05-12
Hong Kong  5 – 0  South Africa
Korea  5 – 0  Hong Kong

Group Y

Team Pts Pld W L
 Denmark 2 2 2 0
 Malaysia 1 2 1 1
 New Zealand 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Malaysia  5 – 0  New Zealand
Denmark  4 – 1  New Zealand
2008-05-12
Malaysia  2 – 3  Denmark

Group Z

Team Pts Pld W L
 Indonesia 2 2 2 0
 Netherlands 1 2 1 1
 Japan 0 2 0 2
2008-05-11
Japan  1 – 4  Indonesia
2008-05-12
Japan  2 – 3  Netherlands
Indonesia  5 – 0  Netherlands

Knockout stage

Main article: 2008 Uber Cup knockout stage
Play-offs Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                           
    May 14        
May 13
  China  3
  New Zealand  0 May 15
    Netherlands  2  
  Netherlands  3     China  3
  May 14
May 13     Korea  1  
  Korea  3
  Malaysia  3 May 17
    Malaysia  1  
  Japan  0     China  3
  May 14
May 13     Indonesia  0
  Denmark  0
  Germany  3 May 15
    Germany  3  
  South Africa  0     Germany  1
  May 14
May 13     Indonesia  3  
  Indonesia  3
  Hong Kong  3
    Hong Kong  0  
  United States  0  
 2008 Uber Cup Champion 

China
Eleventh title

Controversies

The controversy arose when an unfair scheduling forced some of the teams to play twice a day. Most of the teams were unhappy with the Badminton World Federation decision, including the Indonesia Uber Cup team who threatened to pull out from the tournament due to the scheduling affair, forcing organisers to amend the schedule.[3]

Another controversy cropped up in the tournament was the decision of Korea Thomas Cup team to throw both of their group matches to get a better opposition in the knockout stage. They lost 4–1 in both group matches against England and Malaysia and soon admitted they played to lose the game.[4][5] However, Korean manager denied any fault on them and blamed on the format.[6] This controversy forced the BWF to reexamine the rules and format for future tournaments.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Thomas and Uber Cup - Final Seedings". Badzine.info. 2008-03-13. http://www.badzine.info/content/view/897/2/. Retrieved 2008-03-13. 
  2. ^ "Easy for China, early test for Malaysia". BWF. 2008-03-12. http://www.internationalbadminton.org/news1.asp?pageid={106C4351-C63A-4DF5-A1CF-449FCD1351FB}. Retrieved 2008-03-13. 
  3. ^ "Be fair to everyone, team managers tell world body". The Star. 2008-05-11. http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2008/5/11/sports/21219002&sec=sports. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  4. ^ "Controversy as Koreans admit throwing badminton match". AFP. 2008-05-12. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWQaWArVDofdTMIwGvZwiuTyQ9Ng. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  5. ^ "South Korea in losing ploy at Thomas Cup". Reuters. 2008-05-12. http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCAL1786543720080512. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  6. ^ "Badminton: Blame it on the format, says Korean manager". The Star. 2008-05-13. http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2008/5/13/sports/21226123&sec=sports. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  7. ^ "Rules to be reassessed after South Korea throws matches". Reuters. 2008-05-12. http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCASP28378820080513. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 

External links

2008 Thomas & Uber Cup
Thomas Cup
Uber Cup
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Thomas & Uber Cup