Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) published the 2022 year-end world rankings on Tuesday, with Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto headlining the men’s doubles category through a season of strong performances and milestones. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto were the first Indonesian pair to finish No. 1 since Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo last held that top position in the ranking week of September 13, 2022.
In the 2022 season, Alfian/Ardianto won four tournaments including the Swiss Open, Indonesia Masters, Malaysia Masters, and Denmark Open. In addition to Alfian/Ardianto, “the Daddies” – Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan overtook Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik to move up 1 spot at No. 3 behind Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi while Chia/Soh were ranked World No. 4 and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty at No. 5.
As for Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, they’ve fallen to World No. 23 with a total of 41,150 points.
In men’s singles, Viktor Axelsen was in a ‘class of his own’, as suggested by his 10,8056 ranking points, 28,588 points more than the second place, Lee Zii Jia who earned total ranking points of 79,468. Loh Kean Yew, Jonatan Christie, and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting were ranked No. 3 to No. 5 respectively.
Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi wrapped up the year with No. 1 in women’s singles while Tai Tzu Ying, Chen Yu Fei, An Se Young, and He Bing Jiao had to settle for No. 2 to No. 5.
China’s Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan continued to dominate the women’s doubles event followed by Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida, Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong, Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu and Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong.
In mixed doubles, Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong accumulated 109,600 points to be the No. 1 pair. Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai, Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping, Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino, and Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing were ranked in the top 5.
