Important Facts For Prelims
Thomas Cup
- 17 May 2022
- 3 min read
Why in News?
Recently, India’s men’s badminton team won the Thomas Cup title for the first time ever.
- India have defeated the 14-time champions Indonesia. The tournament was held in Bangkok (Thailand).
What is Thomas Cup?
- Related Field: Thomas Cup, trophy signifies the world supremacy in the sport of badminton.
- It is a 16-nation team event.
- Background & Managed By: The cup was donated in 1939 by Sir George Thomas for a series of men’s international team competitions to be managed by the International Badminton Federation (IBF), of which Thomas was then president.
- First Tournament: The first tournament was held in 1948–49 and won by Malaya.
- Thomas and Uber Cup is the biennial international badminton championship contested by the men and women's national teams.
- India’s Win: In the tournament's seven-decade-long history, the championship title has changed hands only among five nations - China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Denmark.
- With its win, India became only the sixth country ever to break into this elite club.
UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Q. Consider the following statements in respect of the ICC World Test Championship:
- The finalists were decided by the number of matches they won.
- New Zealand was ranked ahead of England because it won more matches than England.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans : (d)
- The 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship is the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship. It started on 4 August 2021 and is scheduled to finish on 31 March 2023.
- Revamped Point System
- The ICC announced in 2020, that the finalists would be decided by percentage of points earned. The amount of points available per Test has been made uniform. This system allows the relative performance of teams to be compared at any point in time, meaning the cancellation of any matches or series for any reason does not directly impact the points table. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
- New Zealand was the first team to qualify for the inaugural final. It was ahead of England due to its ratings, i.e., points (126) after playing 22 matches. On the other hand, England after playing 35 matches has got a 107 rating. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
- Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.
