1973 Thomas Cup: Difference between revisions

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[[Indonesia national badminton team|Indonesia]] won its fifth title after beating [[Denmark national badminton team|Denmark]] in the Final Round.

 

 

 

 

In the European zone England was upset 4&ndash;5 by a solid West German squad which featured a world class singles player in [[Wolfgang Bochow]] who won both of his matches, as well as a world class doubles team in [[Roland Maywald]] and [[Willi Braun]] who won the last match of the tie to clinch the victory.<ref>"W. Germany 5; England 4," ''Badminton USA'', March 1973, 5.</ref><ref name="Davis, 125">Davis, 125.</ref> Elsewhere in Europe a Scottish team that included [[Robert S. McCoig|Bob McCoig]] playing in his sixth Thomas Cup series gave Sweden unexpected difficulty but succumbed 4&ndash;5. The tendency toward close contests, however, did not extend to perennial European power Denmark which beat West Germany 7&ndash;2 and Sweden 8&ndash;1 respectively in the zone semifinal and final. Young [[Flemming Delfs]] made his Thomas Cup debut in these ties by handily winning his three singles matches.<ref>" The Ninth Thomas Cup Draw," ''Badminton USA'', May 1973, 18.</ref>

The greatest drama at the highest level of play in the qualifying ties, came in two Asian zone battles, both involving traditional power Malaysia. In the first of these Malaysia and Japan alternated tight victories in perhaps the longest and closest tie in Thomas Cup history. Malaysia won the last doubles match in three games to advance to the zone final, but [[Punch Gunalan]]'s 17–16 third game win over Japan's [[Junji Honma]] on the second night of play shows how narrow was the difference between victory and defeat.<ref name="Davis, 125"/><ref>"The Ninth Thomas Cup Draw," ''Badminton USA'', March 1973, 5.</ref> If Malaysia had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Japan, however, it proceeded to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against its next opponent, Thailand. Up three matches to none, Malaysia's undoing began when [[Tan Aik Huang]], who had played an earlier singles, suffered a cramp and was carried off the doubles court to end the first night's play at 3&ndash;1. Though Aik Huang played the next day he lost both of his matches, and Gunalan's win at third singles was offset by [[Tan Aik Mong]]'s singles loss. In the final and decisive match Gunalan and the veteran [[Ng Boon Bee]], the world's top doubles team just two seasons earlier, seemed unnerved and were routed by veteran [[Sangob Rattanusorn]] and young star [[Bandid Jaiyen]]. The two Thais had also played singles and emerged as the heroes of an upset victory.<ref>Jack Van Praag, "National and International News," ''Badminton USA'', 10.</ref> Conversely, it was a sad Thomas Cup exit for three of Malaysia's "greats," Ng Boon Bee, Tan Aik Huang, and Punch Gunalan.

 

 

 

 

 

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==References==