{"id":4554,"date":"2026-05-04T14:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=4554"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:45:10","slug":"frances-thomas-cup-order-of-play-sparks-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/frances-thomas-cup-order-of-play-sparks-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s Thomas Cup order of play sparks debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Thomas &amp; Uber Cup Finals concluded on Sunday in Horsens, Denmark, with China and South Korea crowned men\u2019s and women\u2019s champions respectively.<\/p>\n<p>One of the key talking points from this year\u2019s edition was France\u2019s men\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dream run for France! \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7<\/p>\n<p>Follow live action: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TjoFnU4PnB\">https:\/\/t.co\/TjoFnU4PnB<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThomasUberCupFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ThomasUberCupFinals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Horsens2026?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Horsens2026<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Q4GZE8BasA\">pic.twitter.com\/Q4GZE8BasA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 BWF (@bwfmedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bwfmedia\/status\/2050657004780224745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>However, due to their squad composition, France frequently utilised the 10.1.6 sequence (first singles, second singles, third singles, second doubles, first doubles).<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Crucially, this was fully compliant with BWF regulations and France operated within the flexibility of the rules based on their available personnel.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Another milestone moment for France! \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7<\/p>\n<p>Second European team to reach the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThomasCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ThomasCup<\/a> final. \ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udd25<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThomasUberCupFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ThomasUberCupFinals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Horsens2026?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Horsens2026<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qFSj8majiD\">pic.twitter.com\/qFSj8majiD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 BWF (@bwfmedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bwfmedia\/status\/2050650444657983578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, France were not alone in playing ties with alternative sequences. Of the 62 ties played across this year\u2019s Thomas &amp; Uber Cup, 27 featured variations from the standard 10.1.1 format, reflecting the diverse squad profiles and tactical approaches across teams.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the full breakdown, with teams in bold indicating those naming line-ups that affected the OOP:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\" border=\"1\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">Order of Play<\/th>\n<th style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">Thomas Cup<\/th>\n<th style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">Uber Cup<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\"><strong>10.1.3 (S1 S2 D1 S3 D2)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">A: India 5-0 <strong>Australia<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">A: Denmark 3-2 <strong>India<\/strong><br \/>\nC: Chinese Taipei 5-0 <strong>Australia<\/strong><br \/>\nC: Canada 4-1 <strong>Australia<\/strong><br \/>\nD: South Korea 5-0 <strong>Bulgaria<\/strong><br \/>\nD: <strong>Bulgaria<\/strong> 3-2 Spain<br \/>\nQF: Indonesia 3-1 <strong>Denmark<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\"><strong>10.1.5 (S1 S2 S3 D1 D2)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">B: Japan 5-0 <strong>Finland<\/strong><br \/>\nB: Malaysia 4-1 <strong>Finland<\/strong><br \/>\nD: Indonesia 5-0 <strong>Algeria<\/strong><br \/>\nD: Thailand 5-0 <strong>Algeria<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">A: India 4-1 <strong>Ukraine<\/strong><br \/>\nB: Malaysia 3-2 <strong>Turkiye<\/strong><br \/>\nB: Japan 5-0 <strong>South Africa<\/strong><br \/>\nB: Malaysia 5-0 <strong>South Africa<\/strong><br \/>\nB: Turkiye 5-0 <strong>South Africa<\/strong><br \/>\nC: Indonesia 5-0 <strong>Australia<\/strong><br \/>\nD: Thailand 3-2 <strong>Bulgaria<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\"><strong>10.1.6 (S1 S2 S3 D2 D1)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">B: England 4-1 <strong>Finland<\/strong><br \/>\nD: Thailand 4-1 <strong>France<\/strong><br \/>\nD: France 5-0 <strong>Algeria<\/strong><br \/>\nD: <strong>France<\/strong> 4-1 Indonesia<br \/>\nQF: <strong>France<\/strong> 3-0 Japan<br \/>\nSF: <strong>France<\/strong> 3-0 India<br \/>\nFinal: China 3-1 <strong>France<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #fff;\">A: China 5-0 <strong>Ukraine<\/strong><br \/>\nA: Denmark 4-1 <strong>Ukraine<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Thomas &amp; Uber Cup Finals concluded on Sunday in Horsens, Denmark, with China and South Korea crowned men\u2019s and women\u2019s champions respectively. One of the key talking points from this year\u2019s edition was France\u2019s men\u2019s team using an unconventional order of play (OOP), which some argued gave them a competitive advantage during their &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/frances-thomas-cup-order-of-play-sparks-debate\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">France\u2019s Thomas Cup order of play sparks debate<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[299],"class_list":["post-4554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","category-top-stories","tag-badminton-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4554"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4561,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions\/4561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}