BWF honors year’s best players ahead of Superseries Finals

DUBAI: The best badminton players in the world gathered at a gala reception Monday night to recognize the BWF Players of the Year, ahead of the season-ending BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals.
Action in the Superseries Finals kicks off Wednesday at the Hamdan Sports Complex, with the last day of play on Sunday.
And it was a special night for both the men’s and women’s world champions, with Chen Long of China and Carolina Marin of Spain taking home the men’s and ladies Player of the Year Awards. China’s rising star and World Junior Champion in Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles Zheng Si Wei won the Eddy Choong Award for Most Promising Player of the Year, and for the first time, BWF honored para-badminton players with the year-end awards. Korea’s Lee Sam Seop was named Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year, while Helle Sofie Sagoy was honored with Female Para-Badminton Player of the Year.
Lee, who took up badminton after he suffered an accident, said “I’m honored to receive this award. I was emotional when I won it because this was the first such award for para-badminton.”
Over the last two years, Chen Long has emerged as the most consistent men’s singles player in the world. After a successful 2014, Chen continued to blaze a trail this year, winning five World Superseries titles and defending his BWF World Championships crown. He also helped China win the Sudirman Cup. These accomplishments helped him edge past the other nominees: compatriot Zhang Nan, and Korea’s Lee Yong Dae to retain the award he won last year.
Marin was in contention for the award along with China’s Zhao Yunlei and Bao Yixin and India’s Saina Nehwal. The Spaniard started and ended the year on a perfect note – winning the All England in March and the Hong Kong Open in November. In between, she picked up three other World Superseries titles and retained her World Championships gold medal.
A delighted Marin admitted she had not expected to win the award. “I thought Zhao would win it because she’s had a great year as well,” she said.
“I’m very happy, because it’s affirming that you did something great during the year.”
With players turning out stylishly dressed for the gala, awards for the best dressed male and female were also announced. Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon walked away with the honors.
Only the eight top-ranked players from the BWF Destination Dubai Rankings in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles have earned a place in this week’s prestigious tournament, which sees them compete for a share of a $1million prize pool. To qualify for Dubai the players had to amass points from twelve MetLife BWF World Superseries Tournaments held around the world throughout the year.
Monday night was an opportunity for them to relax before they face a tough fight to the title. The players enjoyed superb Dubai hospitality at the Al Badia Golf Club, where they also had the chance to ride camels, hold a falcon and were entertained by traditional dancing. The evening was also attended by Saeed Hareb, secretary general of the Dubai Sports Council.
The competition commences tomorrow with the first match on court 1 at 10 a.m. Matches continue throughout the day until 9 p.m. Chen Long’s first match is against his countryman Tian Howei on Court 2 mid-afternoon.
Local crowd favorites India’s Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will also take to the court Wednesday. Srikanth will meet Japan’s Kento Momota at 5 p.m. followed by Nehwal playing Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.
For the full schedule go to https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=CA160B94-64E2-4...