The 1979 Thomas Cup was the 11th edition of the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as 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 ...

competition, the world championship of men's international team

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

. The final rounds contested by qualifying zone winners and defending champions

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

were held at the

Istora Senayan Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace (, abbreviated as ''Istora''), (formerly named ''Istora Senayan'' between 1969 and 2001) is an indoor arena located in Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex, Jakarta, Indonesia. The capacity of the arena after 2018 reope ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

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 Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, and since then has been held every two years.

won its seventh title after beating

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in the final round.

Qualification

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. Political disputes played a significant role in the 1978–1979 Thomas Cup series. Though the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

had been producing players of astonishing ability since the mid-1960s, its entry into the

International Badminton Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federat ...

(now the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

) had been delayed for years over the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

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. The Asian zone all but disappeared in the political upheaval, as four national teams, including traditionally strong

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, either withdrew or were scratched from the competition. This left only

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to visit

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in a replay of their

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

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 an Indian former 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. Competing in the Australasian zone for the first time since the 1966-1967 series,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

encountered strong opposition from host

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the zone final, despite some close matches. In the European Zone,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

could not take advantage of a fine performance by

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...

(winning only matches where he participated), and went down to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

3–6. The Swedes, however, were beaten in the final for the fourth consecutive time by

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 astu ...

and Sweden's

Sture Johnsson Sture Johnsson (born 27 September 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 sm ...

played on opposite sides of a Thomas Cup tie, though they did not play directly against each other this time. Young

Morten Frost Morten Frost Hansen (born 4 April 1958) is a badminton player and later coach, who represented Denmark. As a player, he spent twelve years in the top three of the world rankings. After his retirement in 1991, he became director of performance for ...

for Denmark and Thomas Kihlstrom for Sweden were the leading performers in the contest. The fallout over these developments reached into the Pan American zone of Thomas Cup which

(Republic of China) had entered. Drawing

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, Taiwan agreed to drop out of the competition when the Mexican Association protested against its entry. Mexico then defaulted the zone final to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

which, effectively, won the zone by squeezing past the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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."Thomas Cup Semi-final Match," ''Badminton USA'', January 1979.

Squads

Knockout stage

The following teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1979 Thomas Cup. Defending champion and host Indonesia automatically qualified to defend their title.

Bracket

First round

Second round

Final

Though probably not anticipated at the time, this was the final Thomas Cup appearance of the great Indonesian doubles team of

Tjun Tjun Tjun Tjun (; born 4 October 1952) is an Indonesian badminton player. Though a world level singles player early in his career, he became one of the sport's greatest ever doubles specialists. His game was notable for its speed, power, accuracy, an ...

and

Johan Wahjudi Johan Wahjudi (; 10 February 1953 – 15 November 2019) was an Indonesian badminton player. Though he played some singles at the international level early in his career, he soon became a doubles specialist noted for his alert and consistent play ...

, Tjun Tjun being unbeaten in three campaigns which included an appearance in singles. His equally illustrious contemporary,

Christian Hadinata Christian Hadinata ( zh, t=紀明發, born 11 December 1949) is a former Chinese Indonesian badminton player. Profile Though early in his career he was a fine singles player who reached the final of the prestigious All-England Championship ...

, 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 en ...

) 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. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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 & Uber Cup T