PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will take centre stage at this year’s Badminton World Federation (BWF) Player of the Year awards, leading the pack with a record six nominees - four in the doubles categories and two in the para badminton events.
Mixed doubles shuttlers and world No. 3 pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei have been nominated after their historic title success in the World Championships in Paris in August.
The other nominees in the mixed doubles are China’s Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping, Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin and Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
World No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who also created history by becoming the first Malaysians to win silver in the women’s doubles at the world meet have been nominated together with China’s Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning, South Korea’s Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee and Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong.
World No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world No. 4 Goh Sze Fe-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have to challenge two other candidates, Koreans Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho and Danes Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, for the best men’s doubles award.
In para badminton, two-time paralympics champion Cheah Liek Hou has to beat Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara, India’s Kumar Nitesh and Korean Park Hae-seong, to lift the best award in the men’s singles SU5 (upper body impairment) and the men’s doubles along with Fareez Anuar.
The winners of the awards will be announced at the World Tour Finals gala dinner in Hangzhou on Dec 15.
