WHAT: BWF Player of the Year Awards
WHEN: 6.30 pm – 9 December 2019
WHERE: Garden Grand Ball Room, Level 1, Garden Hotel, 368 Huanshi Dong Lu, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
The top performers of the year will be honoured at the Badminton World Federation’s Player of the Year Awards, to be presented at the opening ceremony and gala dinner of the second edition of the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of our elite badminton players and pairs in six categories, including two in Para badminton. The nominees were selected by the BWF Awards Commission based on their performances throughout the year.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are in line to claim a rare hattrick of Male Player of the Year awards, having previously won in 2017 and 2018. The Indonesians, who won eight titles this year, have been nominated alongside Kento Momota, Zheng Si Wei, and countrymen Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan.
Three of the nominees for the Female Player of the Year award are the same as 2018 – Huang Ya Qiong, Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota and Tai Tzu Ying. Additionally, there’s a fourth nominee this year – China’s women’s doubles duo Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan.
Michelle Li is the only Pan Am player among the nominees. The Canadian has been nominated for Most Improved Player of the Year, along with Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti.
Players from standing and wheelchair classes have been nominated in the Para badminton categories. There are two nominees each from China, Japan and Indonesia, and one from France and India.
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES
Male Player of the Year
Kento Momota (Men’s Singles, Japan) Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; 10 titles overall.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Men’s Doubles, Indonesia) Highlight: Eight titles on HSBC BWF World Tour 2019.
Zheng Si Wei (Mixed Doubles, China) Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2018; six titles overall.
Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (Men’s Doubles, Indonesia) Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; three titles and 10 finals overall.
Female Player of the Year
Tai Tzu Ying (Women’s Singles, Chinese Taipei) Highlight: Three titles on HSBC BWF World Tour 2019.
Huang Ya Qiong (Mixed Doubles, China) Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; six titles overall.
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (Women’s Doubles, Japan) Highlight: Silver Medal – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; four titles on HSBC BWF World Tour 2019.
Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (Women’s Doubles, China) Highlight: Five titles overall, including Badminton Asia Championships 2019.
Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year
An Se Young (Women’s Singles, Korea) Highlight: Five titles overall, including Yonex French Open 2019.
Koki Watanabe (Men’s Singles, Japan) Highlight: Two titles; semifinals at Canada Open and Chinese Taipei Open.
Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin (Men’s Doubles, Indonesia) Highlight: Winner – BWF World Junior Championships 2019.
Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Men’s Singles, Thailand) Highlight: Bronze medal – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; semifinals at Indonesia Open.
Male Para Badminton Player of the Year
Lucas Mazur (France): 10 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze.
Qu Zimo (China): 11 gold, 1 silver.
Pramod Bhagat (India): 11 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze.
Dheva Anrimusthi (Indonesia): 8 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze.
Female Para Badminton Player of the Year
Sarina Satomi (Japan): 7 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze.
Liu Yutong (China): 9 gold, 3 silver.
Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia): 9 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze.
Ayako Suzuki (Japan): 9 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze.
The Most Improved Player of the Year recognises outstanding improvement in performance and is a direct award from the Awards Commission.
Most Improved Player of the Year
Michelle Li (Women’s Singles, Canada)
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (Men’s Doubles, India)
Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong (Women’s Doubles, Korea)
Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Mixed Doubles, Indonesia)