Thomas Cup final round: India in tough group

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. India, which qualified for the Thomas Cup World team badminton finals after a 12-year-gap, has been placed in a tough group headed by second seed Denmark and including host Malaysia for the premier event to be held in Kuala Lumpur from May 11 to 21.

South Korea, ranked joint fifth-sixth with England, is the fourth team in the Blue group, as per the draw released by the International Federation (IBF) at the Malaysian captial yesterday.

Top seed and defending champion Indonesia, world powerhouse China, England and Sweden are lodged in the relatively easier Yellow group, according to information received from IBF's website. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout semifinals. All rubbers will be best-of-five affairs.

The groupings (numbers in bracket denote seedings):

Thomas Cup: Blue Group: Denmark (2), Malaysia (3/4), Korea (5/6), India (7/8).

Yellow Group: Indonesia (1), China (3/4), England (5/6), Sweden (7/8).

Uber Cup: Pink Group: Denmark (2), Japan (3/4), Indonesia (5/6), Malaysia (7/8).

Purple Group: China (1), Korea (3/4), Netherlands (5/6), Sweden (7/8).

- PTI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Next     : Anand overpowers Lautier