Thomas Cup, Uber Cup finals to be held in India

The final rounds of the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup Badminton championship will be held in India for the first time.
Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta said it was a matter of pride for our country to be hosting the finals of the two prestigious badminton tournaments in the world.
"It is a proud moment for Indian badminton. I take great pleasure in announcing that the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup finals will be held in India for the first time ever," said Das Gupta.
"This is a huge achievement for us and we will keep no stone unturned to make it a grand success," he added during the press conference on the eve of the India Open here.

The dates are yet to be finalised.
The Thomas Cup (world men's team championship started in 1948-49) and the Uber Cup (world women's team championships started in 1956-57) are the oldest major international events conducted by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

From 2014, the event will be held in a new format as the BWF has decided to do away with the preliminaries.
Earlier, continental preliminaries were held at different places and 12 teams made it to the final.
However, from next year only finals will be held and the number of teams eligible to be contesting would be 16. Out of the 16, 14 teams will qualify on the basis of their world rankings , while two thers would be the holders and the hosts.