Top five title favourites for Thomas Cup 2024

India are the defending champions.

The iconic Thomas Cup, the brainchild of Sir George Alan Thomas and often dubbed the “Davis Cup of Badminton,” is back for another edition in 2024.

The defending champions India, riding high on their dream team’s triumph, face a daunting task in Group C, pitted against the formidable forces of Thailand, England and the record 14-time winners Indonesia, who are still smarting from their runners-up finish last time out.

The European heavyweights Denmark have been placed with strong teams like Malaysia, Hong Kong and Algeria. Japan, the fourth seeds in the tournament have been placed with the eternally astonishing Chinese Taipei, Germany and Czech Republic.

The home team, China have been placed with team event specialists Korea, Canada and Australia. Let’s delve into a list of the top five favourites for the title at the 2024 edition of the Thomas Cup finals.

List of top five title favourites team for Thomas Cup 2024:

Denmark

Led by the nearly invincible Viktor Axelsen, Denmark stand as the early favourites of the tournament. Anders Antonsen, who has lost only 2-3 matches in the 2024 season, along with 2023 World Championships silver medalists Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen and Rasmus Gemke, form a team that stands a perfect chance to repeat their 2016 glory.

China

Playing on home turf, China’s recent performance at the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2024 showcases their level of dominance in the sport, with a total of 13 medals won at a single continental tournament.

The team, consisting of Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng, who medaled at the same tournament, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang who won the tournament and Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi, who secured China as the only nation with two representatives in the men’s doubles discipline at the Paris Olympics, appear to be the perfect contenders for the title.

India

India, the “Team of Dreams” and the underdogs who touched glory last time out, have made very few changes from the previous edition’s team. HS Prannoy may not have had the best start to the year, but he’s the man in need, one of the rarest to challenge Viktor Axelsen even at his peak. Lakshya Sen is making a strong comeback after a lean patch of form and the undefeated captain from the last edition, Kidambi Srikanth remains our leading man. Priyanshu Rajawat remains in the squad with the addition of Kiran George.

Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun, who played one of the best matches of their lives at BAC 2024, stay on the team with the addition of Sai Pratheek, alongside the nation’s biggest pride, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. They are medal favourites and although defending the title will be tough, they are truly a “Team of Dreams.”

Indonesia

The most successful team in the history of the event, Indonesia, have fielded a formidable team made up of the in-form Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and the recently crowned All England and Asian champion Jonatan Christie. Former World No.1 and All England champions, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, join the team as well.

Junior world champion Alwi Farhan is a new addition, along with Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and the pair of Bagas Maulana and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, setting the team up for a potential 15th victory.

Japan

The 2014 champions Japan must be eyeing a title after a decade-long drought. Led by Kento Momota, the team includes all-star names like Kodai Naraoka, Kenta Nishimoto, Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.

With support from Akira Koga, Taichi Saito and Koki Watanabe, the team definitely stand as medal favourites early in the tournament.

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