Bookmaker 10Bet's odds for the Thomas Cup: https://www.10bet.com/sports/badminton/thomas-cup/thomas-cup-2018-winner/
No, stop relying on your amygdala and start using your cortex... E.g. If TUC was held every 4 years, Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng would have appeared in only 2-3 TUCs instead of 7 in their 14 years as MD -- it would the SAME as if they had CHOSEN to skip every other bi-annual TUC! And on top of that, if anything untoward like injury happened during a 4-yearly TUC, Cai/ Fu wouldn't be able to join the ONLY 2-3 TUCs AVAILABLE during their prime... Sports science and sports management don't stop being professional disciplines just because you're a casual fan! The only reasons you would permanently adjust the schedule (vs ad-hoc adjustments due to sponsorship/acts of god/etc.) & mess up the players' long-term planning/development is if you believe (1) international badminton standards/participation rates have gone to crap and won't recover for a decade or so, OR (2) international badminton viewership/sponsorship has gone to crap and won't recover for a decade or so...
Then so be it!! We will have less Thomas Cup with higher integrity. Winning Thomas Cup is not a choice of the winner whether they want to win in this year, or in the next 2 years Sport management unfortunately often is not perfect yet including scheduling issue, in which this year case, shows that sport management professionalism causes the integrity of the highest tournament in badminton to be decreased by decision to not participating due to different priority And I dont say that they need to change the schedule NOW! I ONLY say that I agree with TUC being held for each 4 years! Your last paragraph is not relevant for my initial statement
Very interesting odds for China. Personally, I don't rate China highly now. Chen Long's performance to date has been quite disappointing. Shi Yuqi is yet to be tested, so we have to wait and see. MD is also China's weak point. If China were to win, Chen Long has to do his duty as MS1 well, and MD1 would have to take a point off the likely finalists - Indonesia, Denmark, Japan or South Korea.
