The five continental team championships conducted last week threw up qualifiers to the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup finals, to be played in Kunshan (China) in May.

Mexico ensured their spot in the Thomas Cup finals by winning the men’s competition at the Pan Am Team Continental Championships 2016 on Saturday.

Mexico thus joined other continental winners New Zealand (Oceania), South Africa (Africa), Indonesia (Asia) and Denmark (Europe) to the final round of the Men’s World Team Championships.

The Thomas & Uber Cup finals will consist of 16 teams each, split into groups of four. Defending champions, hosts and continental winners are guaranteed spots in the finals, as are the semi-finalists of the continental championships of Asia and Europe. The remaining places will be taken by teams based on their world ranking of 3 March 2016.

Teams that have qualified for the Thomas Cup are: Japan (defending champions), China (hosts); Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia, Denmark (all continental winners); India, Korea (Asian semi-finalists); France, Germany and England (European semi-finalists). The remaining four spots will be taken by the highest-ranked teams as on 3 March.

In the Uber Cup, China are hosts, defending champions and continental winners, opening up a couple of spots for teams to qualify on world ranking. The teams that have already qualified are: China, Australia (continental winners: Oceania), Mauritius (Africa), USA (Pan Am) and Denmark (Europe). Japan, Thailand, Korea, Bulgaria, Spain and Germany will also qualify as semi-finalists in Asia and Europe. The remaining five spots will be chosen according to world ranking.

Featured image: Mexico’s Lino Munoz played a big part in helping his team win the Pan Am Team Continental Championshipps.