1952 Thomas Cup knockout stage

The knockout stage for the 1952 Thomas Cup began on 24 May 1952 with the first-round knockout and ended on 1 June with the final tie.

Qualified teams

The teams that won their zonal tie qualified for the final knockout stage.

Group	Winners
C	Malaya
A	United States
P	India
E	Denmark

Bracket

	First round				Second round				Challenge round
	Malaya
	Bye
					Malaya
					Bye
									31 May 1952 – Singapore
									Malaya	7
	24 May 1952 – Kuala Lumpur
									United States	2
	Denmark	3
					27 May 1952 – Singapore
	India	6
					India	4
					United States	5
	United States
	Bye

First round

In a three way single elimination tournament within a tournament, the USA received the bye and awaited the winner of the tie between Denmark and India. The results here surprised some as the Danes, affected more by Kuala Lumpur's heat and humidity, were defeated 3–6. Either Trilok Nath Seth or Devinder Mohan Lal figured in all of the matches won by India.

Denmark 3	Selangor Badminton Association Hall Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 24–25 May 1952		India 6
1 2 3 1 Jørn Skaarup Trilok Nath Seth 6 15 13 15     2 Poul Holm Devinder Mohan 3 15 10 15     3 John Nygaard / Ib Olesen Devinder Mohan / Henry Ferreira 17 18 9 15     4 Poul Holm / Ole Jensen Manoj Guha / Trilok Nath Seth 15 7 15 10     5 Poul Holm Trilok Nath Seth 1 15 17 18     6 Jørn Skaarup Devinder Mohan 12 15 16 18     7 Ole Jensen Amrit Lal Dewan 15 8 15 13     8 John Nygaard / Ib Olesen Manoj Guha / Trilok Nath Seth 7 15 15 17     9 Poul Holm / Ole Jensen Devinder Mohan / Henry Ferreira 15 5 15 7

Second round

Three days later in Singapore, however, thirty-six-year-old Marten Mendez, who seemed to draw strength from the 40 degree Celsius heat inside Happy World Stadium, beat both Seth and Devinder in singles, helping The USA to a 4–1 lead. India then gamely fought back to win a series of close matches and pull even at four matches each. It was left to the strong U.S. doubles team of Joe Alston and Wynn Rogers to fight back from near defeat in the final match and clinch the victory for the Americans.

United States 5	Happy World Stadium, Singapore 27–28 May 1952		India 4
1 2 3 1 Dick Mitchell Devinder Mohan 15 12 16 17 1 15   2 Marten Mendez Trilok Nath Seth 15 11 15 1     3 Joey Alston / Wynn Rogers Devinder Mohan / Henry Ferreira 15 12 15 8     4 Carl Loveday / Bob Williams Manoj Guha / Trilok Nath Seth 15 11 15 9     5 Marten Mendez Devinder Mohan 5 15 15 8 15 3   6 Dick Mitchell Trilok Nath Seth 8 15 15 5 1 15   7 Joey Alston Amrit Lal Dewan 15 12 15 17 1 15   8 Carl Loveday / Bob Williams Devinder Mohan / Henry Ferreira 10 15 15 3 17 18   9 Joey Alston / Wynn Rogers Manoj Guha / Trilok Nath Seth 6 15 15 10 15 7

Challenge round

An American team that no longer had the legendary Dave Freeman was further weakened when Joe Alston, a newly employed agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was denied an extension of his leave. It faced a formidable Malayan squad, in Malaya, led by the cool and graceful Wong Peng Soon who, though almost as old as Marten Mendez, was still in his prime. He proved this by defeating Mendez and Dick Mitchell routinely in straight games. Malaya's most effective team member, however, might have been the quick and tenacious Ong Poh Lim who routed his opponent in the third singles match and won both of his doubles matches with Ismail bin Marjan. For the Americans, the exceptionally fit Mendez forced a third game default from Ooi Teik Hock while doubles specialist Wynn Rogers and hard smashing Bobby Williams split two close encounters with their Malayan counterparts. It was not enough against a deeper lineup, and Malaya retained the Thomas Cup at seven matches to two.

Malaya 7	Happy World Stadium, Singapore 31 May – 1 June 1952		United States 2
1 2 3 1 Wong Peng Soon Marten Mendez 15 1 15 10     2 Ooi Teik Hock Dick Mitchell 15 9 15 11     3 Chan Kon Leong / Abdullah Piruz Wynn Rogers / Bob Williams 15 9 16 18 9 15   4 Ong Poh Lim / Ismail Marjan Dick Mitchell / Carl Loveday 15 5 15 4     5 Wong Peng Soon Dick Mitchell 15 8 15 5     6 Ooi Teik Hock Marten Mendez 15 11 10 15     w/o 7 Ong Poh Lim Bob Williams 15 1 15 6     8 Chan Kon Leong / Abdullah Piruz Dick Mitchell / Carl Loveday 15 2 15 2     9 Ong Poh Lim / Ismail Marjan Wynn Rogers / Bob Williams 15 12 13 15 15 12