Indonesia’s all-conquering Men’s Doubles team of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have again been voted BWF Male Player of the Year.
They claimed top honours for a second consecutive year at the BWF Player of the Year Awards held in Guangzhou on Monday evening.
The duo entered 11 HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments in 2018, winning eight of nine finals they were in, for a World Tour win-loss record of 49-3.
"It's a great honour to win this award for the second straight time. It's an inspiration for us to keep working hard. We did well all through the season but I would say our highlight was winning the Asian Games gold," Sukamuljo said.
China’s Huang Yaqiong picked up Female Player of the Year ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying and Japan’s doubles pairing of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota. Huang Yaqiong and Mixed Doubles partner Zheng Siwei had a stellar season winning all five Super 750 titles on the HSBC BWF World Tour.
"I'm very excited. Last year I was nominated but I missed it. This time I finally won this award and I feel really happy. My highlight this year must be the World Championships gold in Nanjing," Huang Yaqiong said.
The Most Improved Player of the Year went to Women’s Doubles world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara.
Jack Shephard (England) and Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) claimed Male and Female Para-badminton Player of the Year respectively, while China’s Men’s Doubles pairing of Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong won the Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year title.
The prestigious awards night recognises the achievements of our elite badminton players and pairs in six categories.
Winners in five of the categories were chosen by the BWF Awards Commission from a list of nominees, while the Most Improved Player was a special direct award from the Commission.
The evening was a fitting curtain raiser to the inaugural HSBC BWF World Tour Finals which starts on Wednesday 12 December.
AWARD WINNERS
Male Player of the Year
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Men’s Doubles, Indonesia)
Female Player of the Year
Huang Yaqiong (Mixed Doubles, China)
Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year
Han Chengkai/Zhou Haodong (Men’s Doubles, China)
Male Para-badminton Player of the Year
Jack Shephard (England)
Female Para-badminton Player of the Year
Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia)
Most Improved Player of the Year
Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (Women’s Doubles, Japan)
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