Dubai: After winning seven major titles including the World Championship and All-England men’s titles, world No. 1 Chen Long hopes to finish the most successful year of his career by adding the win of Badminton World Federation (BWF) Superseries Finals title under his belt.
Without both Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, if Chen Long can maintain a high level of play, he would very likely to be the last man standing in men’s singles.
For women’s competition, fans are eagerly awaiting the rivalry between World No. 1 seed Carolina Marin and World No. 2 Saina Nehwal. Both Marin and Nehwal have been grouped together in women’s singles Group A, and they will clash with each other on Thursday.
Speaking at the pre-event press conference and draw Monday, Poul-Erik Høyer, President of the Badminton World Federation said, “We are delighted to be back in Dubai for the annual showpiece to crown the season’s top players. We are also thrilled with the exciting partnership we have developed which has allowed us to share our sport with Dubai and the wider Gulf region.”
“The success of BWF’s development program, Shuttle Time, in Dubai – especially among schoolchildren has been highly significant. The Dubai community’s enthusiasm for badminton gives us much optimism for the future as we continue growing the sport here.”
Here’s the list of participants for 2015 BWF World Super Series Finals:
Men’s singles groups:
GROUP A – Chen Long (China), Jan Jorgensen (Denmark), Tian Houwei (China), Hu Yun (Hong Kong)
GROUP B – Kento Momota (Japan), Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), Chou Tien Chen (Taiwan), Kidambi Srikanth (India).
Women’s singles groups:
GROUP A – Carolina Marin (Spain), Nozomi Ukuhara (Japan), Saina Nehwal (India), Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan)
GROUP B – Wang Shixian (China), Wang Yihan (China), Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand), Sung Ji-hyun (South Korea)
Men’s Doubles:
Group A – Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong (South Korea), Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (Japan), Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia), Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (China)
Group B – Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (Denmark), Chai Biao/Hong Wei (China), Kim Gi Jung/Kim Sa Rang (South Korea), Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding (Denmark)
Women’s Doubles:
Group A – Luo Ying/Luo Yu (China), Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (Japan), Chae Yoo Jung/Kim So Yeong (South Korea), Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (Japan)
Group B – Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Denmark), Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii (Indonesia), Eefje Muskens/Selena Piek (Netherlands), Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei (China)
Mixed Doubles:
Group A – Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (China), Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (Indonesia), Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (England), Reginald Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah (Hong Kong)
Group B – Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin (China), Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na (South Korea), Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (Denmark), Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto (Indonesia)