Jamaica seek top placing at Thomas Cup

Jamaica's four-member team to the Thomas Cup will be seeking to top the tournament for the first time, and in the process earn the right to represent the Pan American Region in the finals later this year.

The Thomas Cup will be staged from February 17 to 19 in El Monte, California. Two local-based players, Garron Palmer and Gerald Isaacs, along with coach Dr Kingsley Ford, left the island yesterday for the United States' west coast where they will be joined by Charles Pyne and Gareth Henry, who reside and train in Canada.

Pyne, who is ranked 105 in the world, and Henry, 143, will play most of the singles matches as they seek to pick up rankings points to assist in their Olympic qualification efforts.

Palmer and Isaacs, who are the current national doubles champions, will mainly support the two ranked players in the doubles matches.

President of Jamaica's Badminton Association, Vishu Tolan, believes that with some good fortune Jamaica could progress to the final.

"With a bit of luck we could make it to the final," Tolan expressed.

"A bit of luck meaning what zone we are drawn in initially," he added.

Isaacs a first-timer

Pyne, Henry and Palmer have previously represented the country. However, this is 19-year-old Isaacs' first journey to the Pan Am play-offs, having just graduated to the senior level.

The tournament will comprise three singles and two doubles matches per tie. Each player may play a maximum of one singles and one doubles, or two doubles matches in each tie.

The tournament will also feature the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and Suriname. The eight teams will be placed in two groups with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-final, which along with the final will be contested on Sunday.

The four other continental federations - Oceania, Asia, Europe and Africa - will concurrently run their own qualifying tournaments. The top four teams from the Asian and European confederations, along with the top teams from Oceania, Africa, Pan Am and the winners of the play-offs, which will be used to determine the 12th team, will advance to the final in May in China.

The Uber Cup, which is the female qualifying tournament, will be played during the same time frame as the male competition. But Jamaica does not currently have a female team and hence will not be represented.

- Ryon Jones