Thomas Cup Badminton tournament. Although the Singapore Badminton Association was established as early as 1929, it was only after World War II that the sport gained significant popularity. At the end of 1948, a team of Malayan and Singaporean players entered the first Thomas Cup Badminton Tournament in Preston in the United Kingdom. Two Singaporean players, Ong Poh Lim and Wong Peng Soon, were selected to take part. In the final, Malaya defeated Denmark 8- 1, with Ong Poh Lim defeating Paul Holm 17- 14; 15- 8.

Badminton was considered Malaya’s national game after the Thomas Cup victory. In 1952, the Cup was defended in both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. There was public excitement about the prospect of the final rounds being played on home soil. India and Denmark, as the winners of the tournament’s Pacific and Europe Zones respectively, met in the first inter- zone tie, with the winner, India, then playing against the United States in the Inter- Zone Final. In the final, Wong Peng Soon defeated Marten Mendez and Dick Mitchell of the American team, while Ong Poh Lim defeated Bob Williams in the singles, and combined with Ismail Marjan to defeat first Dick Mitchell and Carl Loveday, and then Wynn Rogers and Bob Williams, in the doubles. Victory was an emphatic 7- 2.

In 1955, Denmark returned to play Singapore in the Challenge Round. Wong Peng Soon won both his matches— the first against J. Skaarup (15- 5; 16- 18; 15- 4) and the second against Finn Kobberø (12- 15; 15- 0; 15- 7). Ong Poh Lim partnered Ooi Teik Hock to win two doubles matches, and in the singles Ong defeated Ole Jensen 15- 10; 15- 8. The final score was an 8- 1 repeat of the 1949 result. Wong Peng Soon also coached the Malayan team that defended the Cup in 1958, but that lost to the Indonesian team that same year. Since then, few players have captured the public imagintion in the way that Wong Peng Soon, Ong Poh Lim and Ismail Marjan once did. The 1955 and 1958 matches were held in the Singapore Badminton Hall.

Photo credit: National Archives of Singapore