1949 Thomas Cup 1949 Thomas Cup The 1949 Thomas Cup was the inaugural tournament of Thomas Cup, the most important men's badminton team competition in the world. The tournament was originally planned for 1941-1942 (badminton seasons in the northern hemisphere traditionally ran from the autumn of one calendar year to the spring of the next), but was delayed when World War II exploded across the continents. Sir George's dream was finally realized in 1948-1949 when ten national teams participated in the first Thomas Cup competition. Three qualifying zones were established: Pan America, Europe, and the Pacific; though Malaya (now Malaysia) was the only
World Badminton Federation Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Zambia. Austria, France, Mexico (on behalf of the Pan American Badminton Confederation), Sweden, West Germany and Yugoslavia sent non-voting observers to attend the conference. During its establishment, the World Badminton Federation organized two editions of its own World Championship, one held in Bangkok in 1978, the other in Hangzhou in 1979. The union with the International Badminton Federation was brought into being following the decision of Taiwan to change the name of its organization to the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association and a promise from