The 2026 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals concluded on Sunday in Horsens, Denmark, with China and South Korea crowned men’s and women’s champions respectively.
One of the key talking points from this year’s edition was France’s men’s team using an unconventional order of play (OOP), which some argued gave them a competitive advantage during their run to the final, including wins over Indonesia, Japan and India.
Under the Badminton World Federation (BWF) regulations, teams are allowed to nominate their line-ups that then determine the OOP. There are eight permissible OOPs, with 10.1.1 (first singles, first doubles, second singles, second doubles, third singles) being the most commonly used format.
However, due to their squad composition, France frequently utilised the 10.1.6 sequence (first singles, second singles, third singles, second doubles, first doubles).
With three elite singles players in Christo Popov (world No. 5), Alex Lanier (world No. 9) and Toma Junior Popov (world No. 16), France maximised their strengths by deploying the Popov brothers as their first-choice doubles pair, allowing all three singles matches to be played first.
Crucially, this was fully compliant with BWF regulations and France operated within the flexibility of the rules based on their available personnel.
Ultimately, while their use of 10.1.6 drew attention due to its contrast with the conventional structure, their results remained legitimate. They still had to secure three match wins in each tie, and they did so against high-quality opposition. On top of that, it did not guarantee them success, as they lost to Thailand in the group stage and China in the final.
Moreover, France were not alone in playing ties with alternative sequences. Of the 62 ties played across this year’s Thomas & Uber Cup, 27 featured variations from the standard 10.1.1 format, reflecting the diverse squad profiles and tactical approaches across teams.
Here’s the full breakdown, with teams in bold indicating those naming line-ups that affected the OOP:
| Order of Play |
Thomas Cup |
Uber Cup |
| 10.1.3 (S1 S2 D1 S3 D2) |
A: India 5-0 Australia |
A: Denmark 3-2 India
C: Chinese Taipei 5-0 Australia
C: Canada 4-1 Australia
D: South Korea 5-0 Bulgaria
D: Bulgaria 3-2 Spain
QF: Indonesia 3-1 Denmark |
| 10.1.5 (S1 S2 S3 D1 D2) |
B: Japan 5-0 Finland
B: Malaysia 4-1 Finland
D: Indonesia 5-0 Algeria
D: Thailand 5-0 Algeria |
A: India 4-1 Ukraine
B: Malaysia 3-2 Turkiye
B: Japan 5-0 South Africa
B: Malaysia 5-0 South Africa
B: Turkiye 5-0 South Africa
C: Indonesia 5-0 Australia
D: Thailand 3-2 Bulgaria |
| 10.1.6 (S1 S2 S3 D2 D1) |
B: England 4-1 Finland
D: Thailand 4-1 France
D: France 5-0 Algeria
D: France 4-1 Indonesia
QF: France 3-0 Japan
SF: France 3-0 India
Final: China 3-1 France |
A: China 5-0 Ukraine
A: Denmark 4-1 Ukraine |
