Singapore's national men's badminton team have qualified for the Thomas Cup finals, the first time since 1986 that the Republic has gained entry to the prestigious event.

The men, led by world No. 45 Derek Wong, will compete at the biennial world team championships for men in New Delhi, India from May 18-25, joining the women's team which also qualified for the Uber Cup.

The qualification process for the Thomas Cup was changed this year, and is now based on the total ranking points of a team's three highest-ranked singles player and two pairs of doubles players. Singapore was on the reserve list of teams that could play in the 16-strong event, but will now compete after other countries declined participation. Teams previously had to get past continental preliminary rounds.

Said Ronnie Lim, chief executive officer of the Singapore Badminton Association: "It is fantastic that Singapore has made history by qualifying for both the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in the same year for the first time. This shows that Singapore badminton is heading in the right direction and we are making inroads in our efforts to establish Singapore amongst the elite badminton nations of the world."

Singapore have been grouped with 13-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia, Thailand and Nigeria.

This is the first time in history that both the men's and women's team will be competing in the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in the same year.