The 1979 Thomas Cup was the 11th edition of the
Thomas Cup competition, the world championship of men's international team
badminton. The final rounds contested by qualifying zone winners and defending champions
Indonesia were held at the
Istora Senayan in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
,
Indonesia in late May and early June. First played in
1948–49, the Thomas Cup competition was held every three years until
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, and since then has been held every two years.
Indonesia won its seventh title after beating
Denmark in the final round.
Teams
21 teams from 4 regions took part in the competition. As defending champion, Indonesia skipped the Qualifications and the first round, and played directly in the second round (semifinal) of the Inter-Zone Ties.
;Australasian zone
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*
*
;Asian zone
*
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*
;European zone
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*
*
*
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;Panamerican zone
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Qualification (intra-zone) summary
Political disputes played a significant role in the 1978–1979 Thomas Cup series. Though
The People's Republic of China had been producing players of astonishing ability since the mid-1960s, its entry into the
International Badminton Federation (now the
Badminton World Federation
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...
) had been delayed for years over the
Taiwan issue. In 1978 the PRC took the step of fostering a rival international badminton organization and running its own version of a world championship (for individual players) in 1979.
Australasian zone
Competing in the Australasian zone for the first time since the
1966-1967 series,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
encountered strong opposition from host
New Zealand but survived 5–4. It was
Richard Purser
Richard Howard Purser (born 28 February 1942) is a New Zealand badminton player who has won 33 New Zealand national badminton titles, including the men's singles on nine occasions. He competed at four consecutive Commonwealth Games, from 1966 t ...
's sixth Thomas Cup campaign for the Kiwis. The Japanese then went on to shut out
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in the zone final, despite some close matches.
Asian zone
The Asian zone all but disappeared in the political upheaval, as four national teams, including traditionally strong
Thailand, either withdrew or were scratched from the competition. This left only
India to visit
Malaysia in a replay of their
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
tie (team match), which Malaysia had won after trailing 1–4. Those young Malaysians had gone on to reach the tournament final but none had since developed into true world-class stars. Thus India, on the strength of three wins by
Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is a former Indian badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...
, was able to avenge its 1976 loss in another extremely close contest (5–4) and win the Asian zone for the first time since
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
.
["Thomas Cup Results", ''World Badminton'', May 1979, 8.]
European zone
In the European Zone,
England could not take advantage of a fine performance by
Ray Stevens (winning only matches where he participated), and went down to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
3–6. The Swedes, however, were beaten in the final for the fourth consecutive time by
Denmark 2–7. It was the last of five occasions in which Denmark's
Svend Pri
Svend Pri (earlier Svend Andersen; March 18, 1945 – June 8, 1983) was a Danish badminton player who won numerous major titles from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s.
Career
His play was marked by great power, tenacity, and tactical astute ...
and Sweden's
Sture Johnsson
Sture Johnsson (born 1945) is a retired badminton player from Sweden who won numerous Swedish national and international men's singles titles. His game was characterized by impressive stamina and mobility, and a powerful overhead smash.
Career ...
played on opposite sides of a Thomas Cup tie, though they did not play directly against each other this time. Young
Morten Frost for Denmark and
Thomas Kihlstrom
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
for Sweden were the leading performers in the contest.
Panamerican zone
The fallout over these developments reached into the Pan American zone of Thomas Cup which
Taiwan (Republic of China) had entered. Drawing
Mexico, Taiwan agreed to drop out of the competition when the Mexican Association protested against its entry. Mexico then defaulted the zone final to
Canada which, effectively, won the zone by squeezing past the
USA in the semifinal 5–4. In nine Thomas Cup meetings between Canada and the United States it was the first time in which no player over 30 participated in the tie.
Inter-zone playoffs
The inter-zone ties (team matches) were hosted by defending champion
Indonesia at
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
in late May and early June. Contesting in an out-bracket tie for the right to play Indonesia in the semifinals,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
decisively defeated
Canada 8–1, U.S. born
Pat Tryon scoring the lone point for the Canadians. The first semifinal tie pitted
Denmark against
India in what might have been expected to have been a very close encounter. Typically talented, Danish squads had also, typically, struggled in the tropical heat and humidity. This time, however, Denmark came through in the uncongenial climate 7–2; the pivotal match probably being wily veteran
Svend Pri
Svend Pri (earlier Svend Andersen; March 18, 1945 – June 8, 1983) was a Danish badminton player who won numerous major titles from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s.
Career
His play was marked by great power, tenacity, and tactical astute ...
's inspiring victory over the much younger
Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is a former Indian badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...
(less than a year before Padukone's triumph at the
All-England Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
).
The second semifinal presented Japan with the daunting task of facing a powerhouse Indonesian squad in an Indonesian setting. Moreover, these Japanese players, especially in singles, were not as internationally accomplished as the highly competitive Japanese stars of a decade earlier. It came as quite a surprise, then, when Japan's number one singles player,
Kinji Zeniya, began the series by racing off to a 14–9 lead on reigning All-England champion
Liem Swie King. This, however, was as close to a victory as Japan came. King recovered to win the game 17–16 and nearly blanked Zeniya in the second game. Fighting hard throughout, the Japanese were successively worn down by better players who were also more accustomed to the tropical conditions. It was the first time that Japan had been on the losing side of a Thomas Cup shut-out. Thus for the fourth time, the third in a championship tie, Indonesia and Denmark squared-off in Thomas Cup competition.
First round
Semi-finals
Final
Though
Svend Pri
Svend Pri (earlier Svend Andersen; March 18, 1945 – June 8, 1983) was a Danish badminton player who won numerous major titles from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s.
Career
His play was marked by great power, tenacity, and tactical astute ...
was 34 and by this time only the third ranked singles player in
Denmark, his record of winning clutch singles matches in tropical conditions had earned him a slot in the top two singles positions.
Indonesia might have placed the iconic
Rudy Hartono (two months shy of 30) in a similar position in its lineup and thus effected a sequel to their long rivalry. It was not to be, as Indonesia placed Hartono in the third singles position. Nevertheless, in "veteran"
Iie Sumirat
Iie Sumirat (born 15 November 1950 in Bandung, West Java) is a former badminton player from Indonesia.
Career
Sumirat was one of Indonesia's leading singles players during the 1970s, when it dominated men's international competition while China ...
, only a year younger than Hartono and, like Pri, something of a showman, Pri drew a worthy adversary. Their opening contest, the most interesting of the tie, was won by Sumirat 15–10 in the third game. Except for a three-game win by Sumirat over rising star
Morten Frost on the second night, every other match was routinely taken by Indonesia.
Flemming Delfs
Flemming Delfs (born September 7, 1951) is a former Danish badminton player who was world no. 1 in 1977. He won the All England Championship, the European and the World Championship in the 1970s.
Career
Delfs is especially noteworthy for winni ...
, whose play in the tropics was almost invariably a full level below its European standard, lost tamely to Hartono, and only one doubles game in eight was close.
[Davis, 128.] Thus for the second straight time Indonesia shut-out its final opponent in Thomas Cup, thereby winning the Cup for the seventh time in eight attempts.
Though probably not anticipated at the time, this was the final Thomas Cup appearance of the great Indonesian doubles team of
Tjun Tjun and
Johan Wahjudi, Tjun Tjun being unbeaten in three campaigns which included an appearance in singles. His equally illustrious contemporary,
Christian Hadinata, would play in three more series (through
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
) and lose only one match in his Thomas cup career. Hartono would play in one more series (
1981-1982), the first in which Indonesia's great rival
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
would finally compete. As for Svend Pri, this was his final Thomas Cup tie and the only one in which he failed to win at least one match.
References
External links
tangkis.tripod.com
{{TUC
Thomas Cup
Thomas Cup
Thomas & Uber Cup