2015 Sudirman Cup

The Sudirman Cup is the world mixed team Badminton Championship which takes place every two years. There are five matches in every round in Men singles, Women Singles, Men and Women Doubles and Mixed Doubles categories. The cup is named after Dick Sudirman, a former Indonesian badminton player and the founder of the Badminton Association of Indonesia. There is no prize money in the Sudirman Cup, players play for their respective countries and to earn BWF Ranking points and national prestige.

In 2015 format, there are four groups with each group sub-divided into more groups. Group One has four sub groups. Rest of the groups is divided into two subgroups. This year, Sudirman Cup will held in Dongguan, China. India is placed in Group 1D with Korea and Malaysia. The tournament will start from May 10 and last up to May 17. India will solely depend on the singles stars such as Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Kidambi Srikanth, and Parupalli Kashyap.

Group 1A is consists of China, Thailand, and Germany with China as the strong contender. Group 1B consists of Japan, USA, and Chinese Taipei. Group 1C is named as Group of Death with Denmark, Indonesia, and England. Teams in Group 1 will play two stages: group play off followed by knockout. The top two teams from each sub group will qualify for the knock out. China has been the most dominant nation in the Sudirman Cup, having won nine editions. Indonesia and Korea have lifted the trophy once and thrice.

The Sudirman Cup for the World Mixed Team Championships feature 35 teams divided into four groups. Of these, the top 12 ranked teams in Group 1 will vie for the trophy, while the other teams will fight for the ranking spots.

Here are the groups for the Sudirman Cup:

Group 1:

Group 1A: China, Thailand, Germany

Group 1B: Japan, Chinese Taipei, USA

Group 1C: Denmark, Indonesia, England

Group 1D: India, Korea, Malaysia

Group 2:

Group 2A: Russia, Hong Kong China, Canada, Spain

Group 2B: Singapore, Netherlands, France, Brazil

Group 3:

Group 3A: Czech Republic, Turkey, South Africa, Australia

Group 3B: Vietnam, Australia, Italy, Switzerland

Group 4:

Group 4A: Nigeria, Philippines, Iceland

Group 4B: Israel, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Kazakhstan

All England Badminton Championship 2015

All England Badminton Championship is one of the world oldest and most prestigious Badminton tournaments. Played annually, it developed after the success of world’s first badminton tournament held in Guildford in 1898. The tournament was originally organized in three categories Men’s doubles, Women’s doubles and Mixed Doubles. Both Men and Women Singles were added later. It was eventually considered the unofficial world championship of the sport until 1977 when the International Badminton Federation launched its official championships. Since 1984 the tournament has been exclusively sponsored by Yonex.

The 2015 Championships was played from March 3^rd to March 8^th in Birmingham, England. Carolina Marin beat Saina Nehwal on Sunday to win the Women single title of the All England badminton championships. The Spaniard reigning world Champion beat the Indian champion by 17-21, 21-14, 21-7. Marin became the first left hander to win the championship in Birmingham. Saina missed to clinch a slice of history to become the first Indian woman to win the event.

Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pulella Gopichand (2001) are the only Indians to have won this title. On Saturday, Saina defeated Sun Yu of China in straight sets to become the first Indian woman to qualify for the prestigious tournament. This was only second time in a decade when two non-Chinese players played in the women’s single final at the All England Championships. In 2013, Tine Baun of Denmark beat Thai Ratchanok Inthanon in the final. In that Edition, Inthanon defeated Saina in the semis.

Saina best result in this BWF Superseries Premier event had been two Semi-final appearances in 2010 and 2013. In her previous eight appearances, starting 2007, she also made three other quarter-finals. In men’s championship, China Chen Long earns the title for men’s singles for the second time. The 26 year old player kept calm throughout the game and did not let in distractions. He played against Dane Jan O Jorgensen from Denmark. Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen from Denmark won the men’s doubles. Bao Yixin and Tang Yuanting from China won the women’s doubles. Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei from China won the mixed doubles trophy in the tournament. The 2016 edition of the tournament will be released soon.