Tai Tzu Ying and Viktor Axelsen named BWF male and female players of the year

Tai Tzu Ying and Viktor Axelsen. AFP and AP

New Delhi: Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and Tokyo Games silver medalist Tai Tzu Ying were named BWF Male Player and Female Player of the Year, respectively, in recognition of their outstanding performances this season.

It was the first end-of-season prize in this category for Axelsen and Tai Tzu Ying, the 2020 All England champions.

The eight winners were honored on a virtual broadcast Friday.

Axelsen was rewarded for his extraordinary journey at the start of the Barcelona Spain Masters in February 2020.

The Dane has made 10 finals in 11 individual tournaments, winning seven of them, including gold at the Tokyo Games.

“It means a lot to me,” Axelsen said in a statement.

“Thank you to my team, my coaches, my friends, my family, my competitors. It has been a very eventful year. A few lows, but a lot of highs, the Olympics being the biggest win, a dream come true. It rewards me. gives a lot of motivation to work harder. ”

Tai Tzu Ying won the All England 2020, then found a rich vein of form in the Asian three-tournament leg in January 2021, advancing to all three finals and winning the BWF World Tour 2020 finals.

The Chinese Taipei player went on to reach the final of the Tokyo Olympics, losing in a thrilling match against China’s Chen Yu Fei.

“It’s a shame I can’t be in Indonesia for the HSBC BWF World Tour finals,” said the world No.1.

“I really miss the competition in Indonesia, which has such enthusiastic fans. I never thought I could win this award.
I will continue to compete and try to get better results. I hope the fans will continue to support me. “

Taking into account the disturbances caused to the circuit by COVID-19[female[feminine For the past two years, the BWF Player of the Year awards review period was from November 2019 to October 31, 2021.

Among others, Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei were named Most Improved Player of the Year ahead of Lee Zii Jia, Pornpawee Chochuwong and Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik.

Lee and Wang won all three titles at the Asian leg in January 2021, before taking a historic gold medal for Chinese Taipei at Tokyo 2020.

Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, who won gold in the women’s doubles at the Olympics, took home the Pair of the Year award.

While Olympic gold was the highlight of the season, the Indonesians have also won other World Tour events, winning the Indonesian and Barcelona Masters in Spain in 2020, and the Thailand Open at the start. from 2021.

Three-time junior world champion of Thailand Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who started making waves on the senior circuit, was named Eddy Choong Most Promising Player, beating other contenders Line Christophersen, Toma Junior Popov and Brian Yang.

In para badminton, Qu Zimo and Leani Ratri Oktila won the Year-End Player of the Year award for the second time.

Qu Zimo was named Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year and Oktila, Para-Badminton Player of the Year.

The French Lucas Mazur / Faustine Noel received the Para Badminton Pair of the Year award.

The BWF Awards Commission also made special mention of Guatemalan Kevin Cordon’s journey through four Olympic Games and his inspiring performances in Tokyo that took him to the semi-finals.

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