Badminton news

The news that matters to club players: the international tour, results, rankings and major events.

BWF tour (4)

• Kumamoto Masters Japan: what is at stake before the first round (Super 500, 10 to 15 November)The Super 500 opens on Tuesday in Kumamoto. Lakshya Sen and the Indian pairs are chasing World Tour Finals points, and Japanese players are at home.Level : Beginner
• Badminton: 15-point games become the standard from January 2027The BWF approved the 3x15 scoring system in April 2026; games will be played to 15 instead of 21 points from early January 2027.Level : Beginner
• World Tour 2027: six tiers, a fifth Super 1000 and revised prize moneyFrom 2027 the BWF circuit adds a fifth Super 1000, brings Super 100 events into the main tour and sets a prize pool of about 26.9 million dollars, reports say.Level : Beginner
• Super 1000 in 2027: 11 days, 48 singles players and a group stageFrom 2027 the top-tier tournaments change format: singles start with groups, doubles stay knockout, and every event spans two weekends.Level : Beginner

Results (22)

• Hylo Open 2026 semi-finals: a French mixed pair into the final, Lakshya Sen faces Jonatan ChristieSaturday's semi-finals at the Super 500 in Germany: France keeps one pair in the draw, India's Lakshya Sen beats Toma Junior Popov and meets Indonesia's Jonatan Christie.Level : Beginner
• Hylo Open 2026 finals: Lakshya Sen and P. V. Sindhu win the singles titlesIndia takes both singles titles at the Super 500 in Saarbrücken; the mixed doubles title goes to France's Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.Level : Beginner
• Korea Open 2026: An Se-young wins her 11th title of the yearThe world number one beat Akane Yamaguchi in three games in Yeosu; here are the other winners of the Super 500 on 8 November.Level : Beginner
• Korea Open: An Se-young wins an 11th title of the season, matching the record for a second yearWorld No. 1 An Se-young beat Akane Yamaguchi in three games in the Yeosu final, tying the single-season record of 11 titles first set by Kento Momota in 2019.Level : Beginner
• Dakar Youth Olympics: Riyan Malhan wins the boys' singles and the UAE's first goldThe 16-year-old beat France's Mady Sow 21-17, 21-18 in the final, while China's Zhang Yixin and Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe also took medals in the girls' singles.Level : Beginner
• All England 2026: Lin Chun-Yi is the first Chinese Taipei men's singles champion, Kim/Seo win the doublesOn 8 March 2026 Lin beat India's Lakshya Sen 21-15, 22-20 in Birmingham, and Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae beat Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in three games.Level : Beginner
• Badminton Asia Championships 2026 in Ningbo: Shi Yuqi and An Se-young win their first continental titleOn 12 April 2026 Shi Yuqi beat India's Ayush Shetty 21-8, 21-10 and An Se-young beat Wang Zhiyi in three games; two other finals were decided without a full match.Level : Beginner
• China Open 2026: Chou Tien-chen, 36, wins a Super 1000 against France's Toma Junior PopovOn 26 July 2026 in Changzhou the Chinese Taipei veteran won 21-15, 7-21, 21-13; China took the mixed and women's doubles.Level : Beginner
• India Open 2026: Lin Chun-Yi and An Se-young crowned, in a tournament criticised for its conditionsOn 18 January 2026 in New Delhi Lin won his first Super 750 and the Thai mixed pair saved four match points; players complained about hygiene and air quality.Level : Beginner
• Indonesia Open 2026: Canada's Victor Lai beats Jonatan Christie for his country's first Super 1000 titleOn 7 June 2026 in Jakarta the 21-year-old won 21-19, 21-8 and ended Indonesia's men's singles title drought at the event.Level : Beginner
• Japan Open 2026: Sindhu and Christo Popov win their first Super 750 in TokyoOn 19 July 2026 India's P. V. Sindhu beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-17 and France's Christo Popov beat Koki Watanabe 21-11, 21-19.Level : Beginner
• Asian Games in Nagoya: two golds for Korea, An Se-young defends her title and Lee/Baek end a 24-year waitOn 29 September 2026 An Se-young beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 and Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na won women's doubles 26-28, 21-18, 21-18.Level : Beginner
• Asian Games in Nagoya: Kunlavut Vitidsarn wins Thailand's first men's singles goldOn 29 September 2026 the Thai player beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-12, 21-16 in the final in Ichinomiya, ending a 64-year wait.Level : Beginner
• Korea Masters 2026: India's Ashmita Chaliha wins her first World Tour title in AsanOn 9 August 2026 she came back from a game down to beat China's Han Qianxi 14-21, 21-14, 21-14; Malaysia's Tee Kai Wun and Yap Roy King won men's doubles in their third event together.Level : Beginner
• Kumamoto Masters Japan, day one: Fukushima and Matsumoto win in three gamesThe top-seeded Japanese women's doubles pair lost the first game, then beat a Chinese pair 2–1 in their opening match at the Super 500 in Kumamoto.Level : Beginner
• World Championships 2026: India's Ayush Shetty knocks out defending champion Shi Yuqi in round oneOn 17 August 2026 in New Delhi the young Indian won 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 in 73 minutes against the world No. 1.Level : Beginner
• World Championships 2026 in New Delhi: France win two first world titles, with Lanier and Gicquel/DelrueOn 23 August 2026 A. Lanier won men's singles and Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue won mixed doubles, both firsts for France.Level : Beginner
• World Championships 2026: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand win women's doubles bronze, India's first medal in the event since 2011The unseeded Indian pair beat the fourth seeds in the quarter-final on 21 August and lost the semi-final to China's top pair on 22 August in New Delhi.Level : Beginner
• Singapore Open 2026: Satwik and Chirag end a two-year title droughtOn 31 May 2026 the Indian pair came back from a game down to beat Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 18-21, 21-17, 21-16.Level : Beginner
• Telangana India International Challenge: Tushar Suveer and Rakshitha win the singles, a Japanese pair takes the women's doublesThe Hyderabad tournament ended on 8 November 2026 with India winning three of the five titles; a Russian pair took mixed doubles and a Japanese pair women's doubles.Level : Beginner
• Thailand Open 2026: Anders Antonsen gets his revenge on Kunlavut Vitidsarn in three gamesOn 17 May 2026 in Bangkok the Dane won 9-21, 24-22, 21-18 in 1 hour 37 minutes against the defending champion.Level : Beginner
• Kumamoto Masters: Okamura and Yamashita beat Indonesia's second seeds 29-27 in the deciding gameOn the opening day, 10 November 2026, the Japanese men's doubles pair saved match points to beat Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in 1 hour 22 minutes.Level : Beginner

Rankings (4)

• Christo Popov wins the French Open and becomes the first Frenchman world No. 1On 25 October 2026 in Tremblay-en-France he beat Indonesia's Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 and was set to overtake Kunlavut Vitidsarn.Level : Beginner
• Kumamoto Masters: Indian players chase World Tour Finals points, and here are their first opponentsLakshya Sen sits 10th in the race to the 9–13 December Finals; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are 12th. First-round pairings as reported before the start.Level : Beginner
• Injured Shi Yuqi asks for a protected ranking and cuts his 2026 season shortThe former world No. 1, 30, has shoulder and back problems; he lost in round one at both the Worlds and the China Masters.Level : Beginner
• P. V. Sindhu qualifies for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, her first since 2021After the Hylo Open title, the Indian star has booked a place at the 9-13 December season finale; the two reports differ on her exact position.Level : Beginner

Players (9)

• Tanvi Patri, 15, wins historic silver at the Dakar Youth Olympic GamesIndia's Tanvi Patri lost the women's singles final to China's Zhang Yi Xin in three games, a first badminton medal at the Youth Games for an Indian woman.Level : Beginner
• An Se-young passes Susi Susanti with a 47th international title at the Denmark OpenThe world No. 1 came back to beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in Odense and became the women's singles player with the most international titles, with caveats on how titles are counted.Level : Beginner
• An Se-young: 55 wins in a row, 71 wins in 72 matches this seasonAfter the Korea Open, Korean outlets count a 55-match winning run and a 98.6% win rate; the Indonesian record they cite stands at 59.Level : Beginner
• Carolina Marín announces her retirement at 32, skipping the European Championships in HuelvaThe Spanish Olympic champion said on 26 March 2026 she would not risk her knee for a comeback in her home town.Level : Beginner
• Devika Sihag wins her first Super 300 in Bangkok as Goh Jin Wei retiresOn 1 February 2026 the 20-year-old Indian led 21-8, 6-3 in the Thailand Masters final when her Malaysian opponent withdrew injured.Level : Beginner
• Ratchanok Intanon wins a third Malaysia Masters, more than any other womanOn 24 May 2026 the Thai veteran, 31, won the Kuala Lumpur Super 500 final in straight games; the two reports name different opponents.Level : Beginner
• P. V. Sindhu takes a voting seat on the BWF Council as chair of the Athletes' CommissionThe Indian Olympic medallist joined the federation's Council in late 2025 and appeared before the members at the annual general meeting on 25 April 2026.Level : Beginner
• Tanvi Sharma, 17, wins the Taipei Open for her first World Tour titleOn 2 August 2026 the Indian teenager beat Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-16, 21-16 in 36 minutes; the two reports differ on which age record she broke.Level : Beginner
• Viktor Axelsen retires at 32 because of his backThe Danish double Olympic champion announced on 15 April 2026 that recurring back problems no longer let him compete at the highest level.Level : Beginner

Major events (7)

• Hong Kong Open: last Super 500 at Kai Tak, then a Super 750 in 2027The Hong Kong Open runs 17 to 22 November in a new arena with 8,000 seats and will be upgraded to Super 750 from 2027.Level : Beginner
• Asian Games in Nagoya: India take men's team bronze after a 3-1 semi-final loss to ChinaOn 23 September 2026 India's only win came from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty; it is India's second straight team medal at the Games.Level : Beginner
• Asian Para Games in Nagoya: two Indian men's singles titles in para-badmintonOn 23 October 2026 Nitesh Kumar and Naveen Sivakumar won men's singles gold; India also took silvers, and the two reports differ on one class.Level : Beginner
• Kumamoto Masters Japan opens with 250 to 300 players, depending on the sourceThe Super 500 in Kumamoto started on 10 November and runs until the 15th in five events; sources differ on the number of players and countries.Level : Beginner
• Los Angeles 2028: how to qualify in badminton, 172 athletes and a window from 3 May 2027 to 30 April 2028The qualification system is ranking-based: 35 men and 35 women in singles, 16 pairs per doubles event, with at most two events per country through continental places.Level : Beginner
• Sudirman Cup 2027 in Beijing: 24 teams over 12 days, from 21 April to 2 MayThe BWF named Beijing as host of the 2027 Sudirman Cup Finals, which grow from 16 to 24 teams and from a shorter schedule to 12 days.Level : Beginner
• Thomas and Uber Cup 2026: China keep the Thomas Cup against France, Korea win the Uber CupLooking back at the team finals in Horsens, Denmark: China beat France 3-1 and South Korea beat China 3-1, both on 3 May 2026.Level : Beginner

Regions (19)

• Kudus: the Junior International Series returns to Indonesia after six years, with 972 young playersThe MilkLife Indonesia Junior International Series runs from 10 to 15 November in Kudus, with four age groups and ranking points on offer.Level : Beginner
• Srinagar: four young shuttlers qualify for India's national championshipsFour students of a Srinagar school earned places in Jammu and Kashmir teams for two national events, a school-games championship and a federation championship in December 2026.Level : Beginner
• Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026: Japan (men) and Korea (women) win their first titlesIn Qingdao in February 2026 both finals ended 3-0 against host China.Level : Beginner
• European Championships 2026 in Huelva: Christo Popov, Kirsty Gilmour, Lane and Vendy crownedOn 12 April 2026 France, Scotland and England won the last three finals, at the arena named after Carolina Marín.Level : Beginner
• China Masters 2026 in Shenzhen: Satwik and Chirag win their first title there after two lost finalsOn 6 September 2026 the Indian pair came back from a game down to beat China's He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu 11-21, 21-13, 21-17.Level : Beginner
• Denmark Open 2026: Pearly Tan and Thinaah end Malaysia's 18-year wait in women's doublesOn 18 October 2026 in Odense the Malaysian pair beat Japan's Hinata Suzuki and Nao Yamakita 21-18, 21-11 in 36 minutes.Level : Beginner
• Denmark Open promoted to Super 1000 as prize money rises at the top three levelsFrom 2027 the Odense tournament joins the top tier, and the BWF raises prize money to 2 million dollars for a Super 1000, up from 1.45 million.Level : Beginner
• India: Syed Modi drops to Super 100, India Open keeps its rank and moves to February 2027In the 2027-2030 BWF calendar India goes from four World Tour events to two; the Lucknow tournament drops one tier.Level : Beginner
• Indonesia Masters 2026: Malaysia take three titles in Jakarta, Alwi Farhan saves the home sideOn 25 January 2026 at the Istora, Malaysia won mixed, women's and men's doubles; Indonesia's only title came from Alwi Farhan, who beat Thailand's Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 21-5, 21-6.Level : Beginner
• Asian Games in Nagoya: China beat Japan 3-0 in the women's team final, Japan take silver at homeOn 24 September 2026 Wang Zhiyi, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning and Chen Yufei won the three matches; Indonesia and South Korea shared bronze.Level : Beginner
• Asian Games in Nagoya: Indonesia beat China 3-2 for men's team gold after 28 yearsOn 24 September 2026 Indonesia came back from 0-2 down, with Moh Zaki Ubaidillah winning the decisive match 23-21, 21-13.Level : Beginner
• Korea Open 2026 in Yeosu: all five winners, from Victor Lai to Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jaeOn 8 November 2026 the Super 500 went to Canada, South Korea (two titles), Japan and China.Level : Beginner
• Malaysia: the Open moves to late January over 11 days, the Masters to August in 2027The 2027-2028 BWF calendar gives Malaysia three events a year; the Malaysia Open becomes a Super 1000 played from 21 to 31 January 2027.Level : Beginner
• South Sulawesi provincial games: Gowa wins both team badminton titlesAt the 2026 Porprov in Sengkang, Indonesia, Gowa took the men's and women's team gold on 9 November; individual events were next.Level : Beginner
• Singapore Open 2026: France's A. Lanier denies Loh Kean Yew a home titleOn 31 May 2026 the 21-year-old Frenchman won 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 in the Super 750 final; the same day An Se-young and Satwik/Chirag also won.Level : Beginner
• South Australia International: Adelaide hosts an international tournament again after seven yearsThe Grade 3 event runs from 11 to 15 November 2026 with 146 players from 12 countries, followed by the Melbourne International from 18 to 22 November.Level : Beginner
• Sumenep, Indonesia: the Bupati Cup badminton championship opens with 339 participantsThe 2026 regional event opened on 10 November at the GOR Sumekar, with categories from very young children to veterans.Level : Beginner
• Thomas Cup 2026: France beat Indonesia 4-1 and knock it out, a shock for Indonesian badmintonIn the Group D decider in Horsens, Indonesia's only point came from Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri; the Indonesian federation apologised.Level : Beginner
• Thomas Cup 2026: France's run to a first final, 3-0 against Japan then IndiaAfter beating Indonesia in its group decider, France swept 2014 champions Japan in the quarter-finals on 1 May and 2022 champions India in the semi-finals on 2 May in Horsens.Level : Beginner

Gear and innovations (2)

• AI line-call review: two BWF-approved systems reach smaller tournamentsIndia's Stupa Sports and Malaysia's Revealtek offer camera-based instant review at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems, according to the companies and press reports.Level : Beginner
• Synthetic shuttlecocks: Yonex and Victor launch top-end models in 2026Two new synthetic shuttles, the Yonex Crosswind 70 and the Victor Carbonsonic Max, aim to get close to feather flight; claims come from the makers and retailers and are not yet independently tested.Level : Beginner