The 2014 Thomas & Uber Cup was the 28th tournament of the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

and 25th tournament of the

Uber Cup The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Women's Team Championships, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. First held in 1956–1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contes ...

, the

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

team championships for men and women respectively. It was held on 18–25 May 2014 at the

Siri Fort Sports Complex The DDA Siri Fort Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It was built for the 1982 Asian Games, next to the Asian Games village by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which also runs the facility now. Also close by is the Siri ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This is the first time India hosted the two cups. The Thomas Cup final featured two teams not expected to make it there as

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 ...

faced

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. In a back-and-forth contest, Japan came out on top by a score of 3 matches to 2, winning their first Thomas Cup. The Uber Cup final featured the top two teams,

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 ...

and

. Backed by wins from the world's top two singles players, China came out on top by a 3–1 score. It was their 13th title overall.

Host city selection

was awarded with this event by

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 ...

in April 2013. This event marked the first time India hosted the Thomas and Uber Cup finals after hosting

2009 BWF World Championships The 2009 BWF World Championships was the 17th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, from 10–16 August ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Qualifiers

Seedings

The seeding list was based on 6 March 2014 world rankings as the draw was conducted on 30 March 2014. The top four seeded teams were in the first pot, followed by the next four teams in the second pot, the next four teams in the third pot, and the last four teams were in the fourth pot. The knock out draw was held immediately after the group stage was completed. ;Thomas Cup # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ;Uber Cup # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Squads

Thomas Cup

Groups

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

All times are

India Standard Time Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and avia ...

( UTC+05:30).

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

The top four teams in the semi-final were the top four seeded teams in this competition. They also won their respective groups.

Final

Both Japan and Malaysia arrived in the final having already surpassed expectations by defeating traditional powerhouses China and Indonesia in the semi-final, both with 3–0 scores. In the first singles matches, Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei defeated Japan's Kenichi Tago in straight sets. In the next match, Malaysia's scratch combination of Hoon Thien How and Tan Boon Heong won the first set, but Japan's world number three pair of Kenichi Hayakawa and Hiroyuki Endo stayed close and pipped their opponent to win the match. In the second singles match, upcoming Japanese player Kento Momota bested Chong Wei Feng in straight sets. The second doubles match was perhaps the most explosive, with quick volleys, many powerful smashes, and several diving saves. In the end, Malaysia's doubles team of Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong stayed unbeaten during the tournament and leveled the best of five contest by defeating Japan's Keigo Sonoda and Takeshi Kamura in three sets. Thus, the hopes of both countries fell to the third singles players. Malaysia's Daren Liew got out to an early lead, but as the game progressed he made a couple of errors, misjudging the shuttle. Japan's Takuma Ueda won the match in three sets, giving Japan their first title.

Uber Cup

Groups

Group W

Group X

Group Y

Group Z

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Three of the teams in the semi-final were among the top four seeded teams in this competition. The other team is host India. All four teams won their respective groups.

Final

China and Japan were the top two seeded teams in the Uber Cup and faced each other in the final. Olympic champion and world number one Li Xuerui quickly defeated her Japanese opponent Minatsu Mitani in straight sets. Japan evened the contest in the first doubles when Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi stopped China's top women pair, Bao Yixin and Tang Jinhua, in straight sets. World number two Wang Shixian put China back in front when she beat Japan's Sayaka Takahashi in another match that ended in straight sets. China clinched the title in the second doubles when Wang Xiaoli and Zhao Yunlei bested Miyuki Maeda and Reika Kakiiwa. China thus won the tie three matches to one.

References

External links

BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014
at ''tournamentsoftware.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:2014 Thomas and Uber Cup International sports competitions hosted by India

Thomas 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 ...

Thomas and Uber Cup Thomas and Uber Cup Sport in New Delhi Badminton tournaments in India Thomas & Uber Cup