Chen Long, Zhao Yunlei and Akane Yamaguchi walked away with Badminton Player of the Year awards in Dubai.
China’s Chen Long, who claimed his first World Championships title this year, won the Male Player of the Year following his win at the Korea Open. After finishing runner-up at the All England and India Open, he stormed to his first BWF World Championships title and followed that up with a victory at the Denmark Open.
He also reached the title rounds in the Asian Games individual event and the Hong Kong Open.
These accomplishments helped him edge past the other nominees: compatriots Lin Dan and Zhang Nan, and Korea’s Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeong Seong.
Meanwhile, another Chinese player Zhao Yunlei, a double titlist at the BWF World Championships, was named Female Player of the Year. Zhao was in contention for the award with compatriots Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan and Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen.
The reigning world and Olympic champion was chosen as she had an exceptional season- her partnerships with Tian Qing in Women’s Doubles and Zhang Nan in Mixed Doubles continued to yield rich returns, with three Superseries titles with Tian and four with Zhang.
Zhao also won a double at the BWF World Championships and the Asian Games Mixed Doubles gold medal.
Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, the two-time World Junior champion who was runner-up at the China Open Superseries Premier, retained her Most Promising Player of the Year award.
Yamaguchi retained her World Junior Championships title, while proving to be an increasingly difficult opponent for senior opponents. A runner-up position at the China Open confirmed expectations that she would be the player to watch in 2015.
The other contenders in this category were China’s Lin Gui Pu, Chen Qingchen and He Bing Jiao, and Indonesia’s Rosyita Eka Putri Sari.
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