ONLY a portion of the slightly ageing booklet juts out from a pile of old newspapers but that’s enough for me to notice the word ‘THOMAS C.’ printed in bold black ink against a light red background. Is it what I think it is? Have I found the Holy Grail of badminton paraphernalia — the souvenir booklet issued in 1949 after Malaya won the inaugural Thomas Cup competition?
Nervously, I turn around to survey the surroundings. The recycling centre is practically deserted save for the elderly supervisor seeking refuge from the sweltering afternoon heat under a fast whirling fan a distance away. This is usually the quietest time of the day as most of the employees are out on their collecting rounds.
Taking advantage of the lull and absence of prying eyes, I decide to remove the layers of old newspapers bit by bit until the magazine comes into full view. My heart skips a beat as I stand rooted to the ground, trying hard to maintain my composure. It is indeed the rare Straits Times’ commemorative issue published in conjunction with the Malayan badminton team’s successful Thomas Cup campaign.
Thankfully, the almost 70-year-old publication is still in very good shape apart from a slightly worn spine.
Eager to check out the contents, I head towards an empty plastic chair nearby so I can settle down to some browsing. The back of the front cover reveals a photograph of the winning team posing with their racquets. This interesting illustration is accompanied by the Malayan Thomas Cup team manager and non-playing captain, Lim Chuan Geok’s triumphant message to the Straits Times.
Lim, who was also President of the Badminton Association of Malaya at that time, thanked the Malayan people and the Singapore Government for their generous financial support in making the team’s European trip a reality. He also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to fans for their overwhelming number of congratulatory messages and apologised for not being able to reply to each one of them individually.
His humble words struck a chord with me. Prior to this Thomas Cup success, badminton was a little known sport and Malaya was never considered a force to be reckoned with. Public funding was rare let alone monetary rewards for the players. Yet, the men played their hearts out and brought the ultimate glory to a nation which so desperately needed good news after the devastating Japanese Occupation and Second World War.
BADMINTON’S GREATEST EVENT
The idea for such a tournament, the single greatest event in the history of badminton, was conceived by Sir George Alan Thomas. Born in 1881, Thomas only started playing badminton at age l8 when he joined the United Services Badminton Club at Southsea, Hampshire. Thomas, at the end of his first season, reached the semi-final round of the All-England Championships’ men’s doubles competition.
Three years later, in 1903, he bagged his first title — the All-England mixed doubles championship. That became the first of Thomas’ long list of successes. Throughout his playing career, Thomas won a total of 90 national titles, which comprised 2l All-England championships, 3l Scottish championships, 26 Irish championships and 12 French championships. That impeccable record, unbroken until today, will very likely stand for all time.
Though he won greatest fame as a badminton player, Thomas reached the highest class in other fields as well. He was one of the last eight in the 1911 Wimbledon lawn tennis championships and entered the semi-final round in the men’s doubles in 1907 and 1912. For two years, 1922 and 1934, Thomas was British chess champion.
Thomas’ honoured place in badminton didn’t rest entirely on his performances on the court. Elected to the committee of the Badminton Association of England in 1909, he became vice president in 1930. Four years later, Thomas became the first president of the International Badminton Federation. In 1939, he donated the silver cup which still bears his name but due to the outbreak of World War II, the first international tournament was postponed until 1948.
BIRTH OF A GREAT TEAM
In the booklet’s one page feature entitled On Tour With The Team, Straits Times’ journalist Lee Siew Yee, who travelled with the team, mentioned that the players had ice cracking under their feet as they waited on the deck of P&O liner Carthage. That day, which happened to be England’s coldest December day in 58 years, was definitely a far cry from the sweltering Singapore heat the team waved goodbye to 25 days earlier.
Yet, the eight men, mufflers round their necks, mittens on their hands and winter coats over everything else, remained undaunted. They kept their spirits up and even managed a grin at London under six degrees of frost.
Fortunately, the weather soon became kinder. There was much more sunshine than snow, fog or frost for the rest of the winter that year. Warm as it was by English standards, the players still went to bed barricaded by flannel pyjamas, pullovers, hot water bottles, blankets and eiderdown. During the day, they dipped constantly into their store of 136kg of chocolates to build up energy.
To supplement the dull English fare, the team brought along rice. The journalist remarked that everyone was taken aback when the rice appeared for the first time on the London hotel table as a grey soggy blob. The inexperienced English chef had used too little water to wash and too much to cook the Malayan staple.
After the first three weeks in London, the team headed to the Midland counties, then south to Torquay, north to Glasgow and south again back to London’s Preston and Harringay. After a breather, they once again travelled to Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, all the time emerging victorious in badminton matches they took part in.
Taking care of a team on an extended tour was a gruelling affair. While the Americans, Danes and Indians each had a captain, a manager and an adviser to look in to their needs, Lim had to fill all three roles himself.
His first job upon arrival in London was to secure a badminton hall where the players could get regular practice and accustom themselves to exacting playing conditions where three-set matches were fought out without an interval and the damp English air slowed the shuttle down considerably.
CREATING CHAMPIONS
I’m heartened to see that quite a number of pages feature the Malayan players in action. The accompanying captions help me to imagine the rigorous training the men went through for nearly three weeks, day in day out, at the Wimbledon Squash and Badminton Club.
It’s quite amusing to see the players dressed from neck to ankle in woollies and flannels when they initially hit the court. Fortunately, those thick winter clothing soon gave way to the familiar singlets, sweaters and shorts when the players got used to the weather.
Apart from studying railway time-tables, paying hotel bills and answering correspondences, Lim imposed strict discipline to make sure that the players peaked at the correct time. He constantly reminded the team that they were there to win the cup and not to enjoy themselves. Off the court, players rested and conserved energy by attending occasional football and ice hockey matches as well as tea parties.
Between December 1948 and the end of January 1949, the weaker teams were slowly eliminated and finally only three were left in contention — Denmark, America and Malaya. As the tournament used a knockout system rather than a round-robin one, Denmark was given a bye and had the luxury of waiting for the winner of the Malayan-American tie.
As the date with America approached, Lim ordered a slow-down in training. He engaged a masseur to make sure that the six men chosen to play were in their best condition. Malaya’s Wong Peng Soon, one of the most brilliant stroke-makers the game had ever produced, wrenched a shoulder muscle and was forced to spend hours recuperating in the warmth of an ultra-violet ray lamp.
Everyone could feel the tension in Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall when the Malayan-American tie started on Feb 22, 1949. Malaya won three out of the first night’s four matches and added three more the following night to reach the final with a margin of six matches to three.
TRIUMPH OF THE UNDERDOGS
Congratulatory cables started pouring in from Malaya and a victory banquet was organised. In the midst of rejoicing, came bad news. Wong’s injured arm had taken a turn for the worse and he decided to pull out. A hasty decision was made for Law Teik Hock to fill Wong’s place and Ong Poh Lim came into the team as third singles.
Then, on the morning of the final, Lim made a dramatic effort to play Wong after learning that his injury had unexpectedly yielded to treatment. The Danish captain generously agreed to this sudden change but the official referee turned down the request saying that it contravened the rules.
On paper, Malaya’s hopes against Denmark looked bleak with Wong’s exclusion. Practically everyone thought that the strong, straight forward style of the Danes would prevail. At the same time, opinions were conflicted for the Malayan team. Some quarters dismissed them as mere stylists who did better in exhibitions than serious competitions while others said that they had a fighting chance.
As the first match progressed, the naysayers were proven wrong. Law rose to the occasion magnificently, sweeping aside Danish champion, Jorn Skaarup in just 20 minutes with a surprising margin of 15-5, 15-0. Match after match fell to the Malayans. Despite the Danes’ efforts to stem the tide, they were completely routed by the Malayans.
Finally, it was left to Penangite Ooi Teik Hock to score the fifth and decisive point to place the trophy in Malaya’s grasp. Malayan badminton’s finest hour arrived when Ooi delivered his winning stroke to beat Skaarup. The two thousand supporters, all that Queen’s Hall in Preston could hold, went wild. They cheered and gave Thomas Cup’s first winners a standing ovation.
Malaya’s first Thomas Cup campaign drew to a successful end when Thomas presented Lim with the trophy and paid the winning team a glowing tribute by saying that Malaya played really great badminton and was worthy winners.
While walking towards the supervisor to purchase the booklet, I take some time to reflect upon Thomas’ parting words as the curtains fell on the on first Thomas Cup tournament: “I hope that this championship will promote the growth of the game and friendship among nations of the world.”
Today, the Thomas Cup has grown from strength to strength with more countries participating in this biennial competition. Denmark became the fifth and most recent nation to win this coveted cup, joining Malaya (now Malaysia), China, Indonesia and Japan in the elite list.
Sunday Vibes wishes the Malaysian team every success in the 30th edition of the Thomas Cup at Bangkok’s IMPACT Arena beginning today until May 27, 2018. Hopefully, the cup will once again make its way to our shores.