Up next in 10
Thomas Cup ❌, Thomas Singles ✅ #badminton #badmintonlovers #bwf
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
We did want to touch on whether the 2026
0:03
Thomas Cup was rigged. For those that
0:05
don't know, France's win over some
0:07
countries, particularly India, was
0:10
controversial as they won 3-0 without
0:12
having to play doubles.
0:16
This was due to a rule that states
0:19
no player can play in two consecutive
0:21
matches or play doubles before singles.
0:25
Because Christo Popov and Toma Junior
0:27
Popov were France's men's singles one
0:29
and men's singles three and men's
0:32
doubles one all at the same time,
0:33
France's order of play was always going
0:35
to be three men's singles matches first
0:38
and then men's doubles two
0:39
and men's doubles one last.
0:42
What that meant was that India's top
0:44
doubles pair, Rankireddy and Shetty,
0:47
never got a chance to contribute in that
0:48
match.
0:50
And people feel that France's win was
0:51
unfair as their singles players are
0:53
higher ranked while India's strongest
0:56
was in doubles, especially with Lakshya
0:59
Sen out.
1:00
Our own take is that team events like
1:02
the Thomas and Uber Cup should reward
1:04
depth. It's a pretty bad viewing
1:06
experience to come watch this event with
1:07
hopes of seeing Rankireddy drop a
1:09
massive smash
1:11
and then not even getting to see him
1:12
play.
1:13
We like to compare this situation with
1:15
managing an NBA basketball team, too.
1:18
You can get the five best all-time
1:19
basketball players on one team
1:21
and no one on the bench, but there's no
1:24
way you're going to win the NBA because
1:26
these five will just run out of energy.
1:28
You need teammates in a team game.
1:30
And if the BWF is trying to do a team
1:33
event in badminton,
1:34
they should emphasize the team aspect of
1:36
it.
1:37
Our thoughts are to either just let
1:39
players who are signed up to play
1:40
multiple events play them subsequently
1:42
or force the team to select other
1:44
players.
1:45
Either way,
1:46
it makes it more team-oriented where a
1:49
country like France
1:50
would need to seriously consider whether
1:52
it makes more sense to play the Popovs
1:54
in singles or doubles.
1:58
And if you add an additional
1:59
randomization of the match order after
2:02
all players have been selected, you can
2:04
reduce capabilities of countries
2:05
manipulating the system.
2:07
And we could certainly get some
2:08
interesting games.
2:10
These are just our thoughts though.
2:12
Let us know what you think in the
2:13
comments below.
2:14
If you're interested,
2:16
we break down what's driving that growth
2:18
and why these teams are becoming more
2:19
competitive here.
#Sports