Latest BWF Rankings(Sept.18) and Draw for the Incheon Asian Games Announced!

Latest BWF Rankings(Sept.18) and Draw for the Incheon Asian Games Announced!

At present, the world’s top-ranked badminton players/pairs are: Men’s Singles-Lee Chong Wei, Women’s Singles-Li Xui Rui, Men’s Doubles-Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong, Women’s Doubles-Bao Yi Xin／Tang Jin Hua, Mixed Doubles-Zhang Nan／Zhao Yun Lei. However, apart from Zhang／Zhao, the other four players／pairs all failed to take the gold at the August BWF World Badminton Championships.

BWF Ranking │ September 18, 2014

	Men's Single	Women's Single	Men's Doubles	Women's Doubles	Mixed Doubles
1	Lee Chong Wei	Li Xuerui	Lee Yong Dae Yoo Yeon Seong	Kao Yixin TANG Jinhua	Zhang Nan Zhao Yunlei
2	Chen Long	Wang Shixian	Hendra Setiawan Mohammed Ahsan	Kamilla Rytter Juhl Chdrinstinna Pedersen	Nielsen Pedersen
3	Jan O Jorgensen	Wang Yihan	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	Misaki Matsutomo Ayaka Takahasi	Xu Chen Ma Jin
4	Kenichi Tago	Sung Jy Hyun	Hiroyuki Endo Kenichi Hayakawa	Tian Qing Chnzhao Yunlei	Tontowi Ahmad Liliyana Natsir
5	Tommy Sugiarto	Ratchanok Intanon	Kim Gi Jung Kim Sa Rang	Reika Kakiiwa Miyuki Maeda	Chris Adcock Gabrielle Adcock
6	Wang Zhengming	Bae Yeon Ju	Lee Sheng Mu Tsai Chia Hsin	Jang Ye Na Kim So Young	KO Sung Hyun Kim Ha Na
7	Son Wan Ho	Saina Nehwal	Thien How Hoon Wee Kiong Tan	Wan Xiaoli Yu Yang (F)	Michael Fuchs Birgit Michels
8	Vittinghus	Carolina MARIN	Ko Sung Hyun Shin Baek Choel	Luo Ying Luo Yu	Sudket Saralee
9	Hu Yun	Tai Tzu Ying	Fernaldi Kido	Jung Kyung Eun Kim Ha Na	Kai Lu Yaqiong Huang
10	Viktor AXELSEN	P. V. Sindhu	Liu Xiaolong Qiu Zihan	Maheswari Polii	Chrisnanta Neo
	#13 Chou Tien Chen		#22 Chen Hung Ling Lu Chia Pin	#14 Go Ah Ra Yoo Hae Won	#28 Kim Gi Jung Kim So Young
				#17 Lee So Hee Shing Seung Chan
				#20 Cheng Wen Hsing Hsieh Pei Chen

Check full ranking at : BWF World Ranking

A force to be reckoned with-Ko Sung Hyun／Shin Baek Choel

In the men’s doubles final at the World Badminton Championships the Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun／Shin Baek Choel defeated their much-fancied teammates Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong to take the title.

• The final results of world championship 2014

	Event	WINNER	Scores	RUNNER-UP
	MS	Chen Long [2]	21-19, 21-19	Lee Chong Wei [1]
	WS	Carolina Marin [9]	17-21, 21-17, 21-18	Li Xuerui [1]
	MD	Ko Sung Hyun [12]  Shin Baek Choel	22-20, 21-23, 21-18	Lee Yong Dae [2]  Yoo Yeon Seong
	WD	Tian Qing [5]  Zhao Yunlei	21-19, 21-15	Yu Yang [4]  Wang Xiaoli
	XD	Zhang Nan [1]  Zhao Yunlei	21-12, 21-23, 21-13	Xu Chen [2]  Ma Jin

It was widely predicted before the start that world no. 1 pair Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong would be able to fight off the challenge of Chinese Taipei’s Lee Sheng Mu／Tsai Chia Hsin, Denmark’s Boe／Mogensen, Indonesia’s Ahsan／Setiawan and other tough opponents to take the world title, however, the withdrawal of Ahsan／Setiawan let two other strong Korea pairs, Ko Sung Hyun／Shin Baek Choel and Kim Ki Jung／Kim Sa Rang have a smooth ride to the semi-final stage. In their semi-final match, Ko／Shin showed their ability to attack continually with ferocious power and were able to beat the favorites for the title, Lee／Yoo, 22-20,21-23,21-18.

This also showed the high level of the Korea team. Not just the star players, even the more low profile players have the ability to win gold. At present, the Korea has three players in the world top 10 in the men’s doubles alone;they are Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong at No. 1, Kim Ki Jung／Kim Sa Rangat No. 5, and Ko Sung Hyun／Shin Baek Choel at No.8.

The Korea team took the title, runners-up spot and equal third place in the men’s doubles at the 2014 World Badminton Championships

Unexpected title winner-Carolina Marlene

In winning the women’s singles title, Spain’s Marlene became the biggest dark horse at this year’s World Badminton Championships and also the first Spanish winner of a badminton world title.

With her astonishing physical ability and destructive power she took the scalps of several players ranked well above her on her way to the final, including China’s Wang Yi Han, Chinese Taipei’s Dai Tzu Ying, India’s P.V. Shindhu, and the current world No. 1 Li Xue Rui.

Her win took her world ranking to eighth, the highest of her career. Marlene now represents a real threat to the players ranked above her.

Once again the world title trophy slips from his grasp-Lee Chong Wei

As the world’s top men’s singles player over the last 7-8 years, the ability and spirit of Lee Chong Wei has been clear for all to see. However, at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and the 2011 and 2013 World Championships he was beaten by his nemesis Lin Dan, leaving in the sad situation of occupying the top of the BWF rankings for a long time but never having been world champion.

With Lin Dan not playing at the 2014 world championships it seemed that Lee Chong Wei’s destiny was about to change, but when he faced China’s Chen Long, Chen put in an impeccable performance and ended Lee’s hopes of becoming champion this year.

Many fans believe that it will be an uphill task for 32-year old Lee to win at next year’s world championships or the 2016 Rio Olympics, while others says frankly “Lee Chong Wei’s greatness does not need to be proven by a certain trophy,” both views reflecting the affection and support of fans for Lee and also showing his irreplaceable position in world badminton.

The Asian Games set to begin, national teams get ready for battle on court

The badminton events at the Asian Games kick off on September 20 and the draw for the men’s and women’s teams have been announced. The seeded men’s teams are China, Indonesia, Japan, and Malaysia;the seeded women’s teams are China, the Korea, Japan and Thailand Most of the teams have arrived at the Athletes’ Village and are making the final adjustments and preparations. Fans can expect many brilliant shots and exciting matches to be served up.

Draw for the men’s team competition at the 2014 Asian Games (Picture source: Badminton Asia Confederation)

Draw for the women’s team competition at the 2014 Asian Games (Picture source: Badminton Asia Confederation)