The 1952 Thomas Cup competition is an international team tournament for supremacy in men's badminton (its female counterpart is the Uber Cup). Beginning in 1948–49, it was held every three years until 1982 and thereafter has been held every two years. Twelve national teams contested for the Thomas Cup in the 1951-1952 badminton season, the tournament's second edition. According to the rules then in place Malaya was exempt from earlier ties (team matches), needing only to defend its title in a conclusive challenge round tie. The other contestants were divided into three regional qualifying zones, the Pacific, Europe, and Pan America, for the early ties. The winners of each zone then played-off in Malaya for the right to face Malaya in the challenge round. For a more detailed description of the Thomas Cup format see Wikipedia's general article on the Thomas Cup.

1952 Thomas Cup
Tournament details
Dates24 May – 1 June 1952
Edition2nd
LevelInternational
Nations4
VenueSelangor Badminton Association Hall
Happy World Stadium
LocationKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kallang, Singapore
1949 1955

Qualification

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India qualified in the Pacific Zone by beating newcomers Thailand and Australia without the loss of a match (thus, 9–0 in each case). Six of the twelve teams in the tournament contested in the European zone. Here Denmark emerged victorious, but not without a tough fight from Sweden (6–3) in the zone semifinal. In the Pan American zone with only two teams, the United States defeated Canada 6–3, trumping a fine performance by Canada's Don Smythe.

Means of qualification Date Venue Slot Qualified teams
1949 Thomas Cup 22 – 26 February 1949 Preston 1   Malaya
Pacific Zone 30 June – 1 October 1951 Bombay
Melbourne
1   India
American Zone 23 – 24 March 1952 Calgary 1   United States
European Zone 10 November 1951 – 19 March 1952 Paris
Bessbrook
Nottingham
Copenhagen
Manchester
1   Denmark
Total 4

Squads

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Knockout stage

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The following four teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1952 Thomas Cup. Defending champion and host Malaya automatically qualified to defend the title it had won three years previously.

Bracket

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First roundSecond roundChallenge round
 
          
 
 
 
 
  Malaya
 
 
 
Bye
 
  Malaya
 
 
 
Bye
 
 
 
31 May 1952 – Singapore
 
 
 
  Malaya7
 
24 May 1952 – Kuala Lumpur
 
  United States2
 
  Denmark3
 
27 May 1952 – Singapore
 
  India6
 
  India4
 
 
 
  United States5
 
  United States
 
 
Bye
 

First round

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24 May 1952 (1952-05-24)
25 May 1952 (1952-05-25)
Denmark   3–6   India
Report
Selangor Badminton Association Hall, Kuala Lumpur

Second round

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27 May 1952 (1952-05-27)
28 May 1952 (1952-05-28)
United States   5–4   India
Report
Happy World Stadium, Singapore

Final

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31 May 1952 (1952-05-31)
1 June 1952 (1952-06-01)
Malaya   7–2   United States
Report
Happy World Stadium, Singapore


 1952 Thomas Cup winner 
 
Malaya
Second title

References

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  • tangkis.tripod.com
  • Mike's Badminton Populorum Archived 2016-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
  • Herbert Scheele ed., The International Badminton Federation Handbook for 1967 (Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd., 1967) 66–69.
  • Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 120, 121.