Asian badminton stars dominate year-end awards

China’s Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong – each ranked world No. 3 for blended doubles – received the BWF Pair of the Yr award for 2022, beating Malaysian duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik and Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

Reigning world champion and world No.1 Viktor Axelsen received the BWF Male Participant of the Yr for the second yr in a row, edging out Loh and Malaysian world No. 2 Lee Zii Jia. 

“Successful this award on the finish of the yr means an excellent deal. It’s a recap of the entire yr, and while you win this award with so many nice nominees and wonderful opponents, I’m actually, actually blissful. Thanks a lot to all the blokes who thought that I deserved this,” Denmark’s Axelsen instructed the BWF web site. 

The awards had been introduced in the course of the BWF World Tour Finals gala dinner in Bangkok on Monday.

World No. 3 Loh’s nomination marked the primary time a Singaporean was shortlisted for the BWF Male Participant of the Yr award, including to his rising path of historic achievements, together with successful the 2021 World Championships title.

He’ll subsequent compete – because the first Singaporean man to do so – on the prestigious season-ending Dec 7 to 11 BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok. 

Loh is in Group B alongside Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

He has an opportunity to achieve a profession excessive world No. 2 relying on his outcomes on the closing event of the yr.