BWF Annual general meeting. Caption: Picture courtesy of Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul via Facebook.
PETALING JAYA: Badminton World Federation (BWF) will be under the leadership of Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, who has been appointed as president for the 2025-2029 term.
At the BWF annual general meeting in Xiamen on Saturday (April 26), Patama, who also serves as the president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, was elected unopposed, succeeding Poul Erik Hoyer, who chose not to seek re-election.
Hoyer, the Olympic champion from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, had held the presidency since 2013, completing three consecutive terms. However, he chose not to stand for re-election due to health reasons.
With her appointment, Patama becomes the fifth Asian and also the second woman to serve as BWF president after Lu Shengrong of China (1993-2021).
The other Asian presidents are Ferry Sonnevilla (Indonesia, 1971-1974), Korn Dabbaransi (Thailand, 2001-2005), and Kang Young-joong (South Korea, 2015-2021).
Meanwhile, former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria was elected as one of the BWF council members, representing Malaysia’s voice in the sport’s world body.
