1961 Thomas Cup qualification

The qualifying process for the 1961 Thomas Cup took place from 22 July 1960 to 29 March 1961 to decide the final teams which will play in the final tournament.

Qualification process
The qualification process is divided into four regions, the Asian Zone, the American Zone, the European Zone and the Australasian Zone. Teams in their respective zone will compete in a knockout format. Teams will compete for two days, with two singles and doubles played on the first day and three singles and two doubles played on the next day. The teams that win their respective zone will earn a place in the final tournament to be held in Jakarta.

Indonesia were the champions of the last Thomas Cup, therefore the team automatically qualified for the inter-zone play-offs.

Final
In the final of the Australasian zone qualifiers, Japan conceded a walkover to Australia. Therefore, Australia qualified for the Thomas Cup by default.