Badminton: BWF announces hosts for the 2023-2026 calendar 

BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said the BWF World Tour 2023-2026 promises to elevate the status of badminton globally.

“Badminton is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world with all-time high participation and fan interest. BWF is committed to staging high-quality tournaments that provide players with opportunities to perform at their best and engage fans around the world”.

“The BWF World Tour 2023-2026 will feature an exciting format, including more tournaments and a greater focus on fan engagement. We are confident that the host cities and partners involved will help to deliver a world-class badminton experience for all.”

BWF President Poul-Erik Hoyer said selecting the host cities for the BWF World Tour 2023-2026 was challenging but rewarding. “We are very excited to have such a strong field of host bidders for the BWF World Tour. The quality of bids submitted was awe-inspiring, and selecting the final four was difficult.”

“We would like to thank all the host bidders for their enthusiasm and commitment to badminton. We are pleased to award the hosting rights of the BWF World Tour 2023-2026 to these three world-class destination cities, which will elevate the status of badminton globally,”

The BWF World Tour is the pinnacle of badminton and comprises a series of tournaments worldwide that offers the most significant prize money and ranking points. 

The tour features five categories: Superseries (the biggest tournaments), Grand Prix Gold, Grand Prix, International Challenge, and Future Series.

More games give a fantastic opportunity to enhance the sport’s reach worldwide, not only in established territories but in new ones as well. It also allows more players to enter an elite circuit and gain valuable experience,” Poul-Erik Hoyer said.

 “We were very encouraged by the large number of high-quality bids we received and that bodes well for a bigger and better tour across the next four years. It enables us to commit to higher prize money, greater coverage on television and online, and spectacular presentation, all contributing to an enhanced world-class sports product that we seek.”

Thomas Lund confirmed there would be no change to current player commitment obligations.

Highlights

• The Malaysia Open joins the All England Open, China Open, and Indonesia Open as the tour’s highest-level Super 1000 tournaments.
• The India Open and Singapore Open has been designated as Premier 500 tournament.
• The French Open and Japan Open will become Premier events.
• The BWF has announced several changes to the tour structure to increase professionalism.
• The Malaysia Open has been elevated to a Super 1000 tournament, while the India Open and Singapore Open have been designated Premier 500 tournaments.
• The French Open and Japan Open have been downgraded to Premier events and bumped to Super 750 status. Existing Super 750 hosts from China, Denmark, France, and Japan have maintained their position.
• The Super 500 level welcomes host cities from three new continents with tournaments in Australia, Canada, and Finland, joining games in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and an additional new host in Japan.
• Two existing Super 100 tournaments have been elevated to the BWF World Tour Super 300 level: HYLO Open and Orléans Masters.