Malaysia won its fourth title after beating Indonesia in the Challenge Round under unusual circumstances.
Indonesia's Rudy Hartono, not yet 18, burst onto the scene as did other new stars such as Denmark's Svend Andersen (Pri) and Japan's Ippei Kojima.
[1] The competition initially involved 23 nations, though two of these, East Germany and Thailand (a major men's badminton power at that time) declined to play their opening ties (sets of matches).
A powerful Malaysian team coasted through the Asian zone by beating India and then Pakistan, each with the loss of one match (8-1).
Japan easily defeated New Zealand (9-0) and Australia (9-0) in the Australasian zone to reserve its place in the inter-zone competition.