The latest world rankings released by the BWF on August 14, 2014 show that the top ranked players in the respective badminton disciplines are: men’s singles-Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia), women’s singles-Li Xuerui (China), men’s doubles- Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong (Korea), women’s doubles-Bao Yixin／Tang Jinhua (China), mixed doubles-Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (China).

 

The Korea’s idol stars Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong

 

The most talked about players in world badminton are all handsome men who are also highly skilled on court. They include the ROK’s mixed doubles pair Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong, who have just returned to the top of the world rankings, and China’s “Super Dan,” who ranks 18th at present; they are all well-known players loved by fans and also the focus of their attention.

 

	Men's Single	Women's Single	Men's Doubles	Women's Doubles	Mixed Doubles
1	Lee Chong Wei	Li Xuerui	Lee Yong Dae Yoo Yeon Seong	Bao Yixin TANG Jinhua	Zhang Nan Zhao Yunlei
2	Chen Long	Wang Shixian	Hendra Setiawan Mohammed Ahsan	Kamilla Rytter Juhl Chdrinstinna Pedersen	Tontowi Ahmad Liliyana Natsir
3	Jan O Jorgensen	Wang Yihan	Hiroyuki Endo Kenichi Hayakawa	Misaki Matsutomo Ayaka Takahasi	Xu Chen Ma Jin
4	Kenichi Tago	Sung Jy Hyun	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	Jang Ye Na Kim So Young	Nielsen Pedersen
5	Tommy Sugiarto	Bae Yeon Ju	Lee Sheng Mu Tsai Chia Hsin	Reika Kakiiwa Miyuki Maeda	Chris Adcock Gabrielle Adcock
6	Wang Zhengming	Ratchanok Intanon	Kim Ki Jung Kim Sa Rang	Luo Ying Luo Yu	KO Sung Hyun Kim Ha Na
7	Son Wan Ho	Saina Nehwal	Liu Xiaolong Qiu Zihan	Tian Qing Chnzhao Yunlei	Michael Fuchs Birgit Michels
8	Simon Santoso	Tai Tzu Ying	Fernaldi Kido	Wan Xiaoli Yu Yang (F)	Sudket Saralee
9	Hans-Kristian	Porntip	Thien How Hoon Wee Kiong Tan	Jung Kyung Eun Kim Ha Na	Kido Benadteh
10	Du Pengyu	Carolina MARIN	Ko Sung Hyun Shin Baek Choel	Maheswari Polii	Chrisnanta Neo
	#17 Chou Tien Chen	#25 Hsu Ya Ching		#14 Ko A Ra Yoo Hae Won	#23 Kim Ki Jung Kim So Young
				#18 Cheng Wen Hsing Hsieh Pei Chen
				#23 Lee So Hee Shing Seung Chan

Since they joined forces Lee／Yoo have shown great skill and strength across the board whether it be technique, power, fitness, mental strength and tournament experience, and have maintained a world class level on court. They were unable to play in tournaments from February to April but they haven’t been affected too much by this forced hiatus as they believe that the glory that is their due will come, and will just be late by a few months at most.  

 

Top-ranked in the men’s doubles- Lee Yong Dae／Yoo Yeon Seong

 

Since they returned to competition in May the two have played together more smoothly. They have not only kept up their impenetrable defense, they have also taken their surprise attack ability to a new level. Their excellent displays on court allowed them to bag all three men’s doubles titles in the three Super Series events in June (Japan Open, Indonesia Open, Australia Open), notably also beating the No.1 pair at the time, Mohammad Ahsan／Hendra Setiawan, on two occasions.

 

Regarded by many fans as the best player around for years, 31 year old Lin Dan has recently swept all before him on court.

 

Lin didn’t play in international competition for eight months after winning the title at the World Championships last summer but he was by no means idle. As well as following his own training plan, he also employed a professional fitness coach to assist him to, on the one hand, maintain his handsome figure and, on the other, to stay in competition shape. This is why Lin showed no ill effects from his long absence from competition when he reentered the international arena in 2014, in fact playing as good as ever.  

 

At the end of April he was ranked 104 due to his long absence, but three months later he rose to 10th for a time after he won the men’s singles title at the Taipei Open in late July. The latest rankings show him back at 18th, the reason being he has only been in six tournaments in a full year.

 

The Korea’s famous women’s singles player Sung Jy Hyun has competed in 20 international events in the last year, making her the busiest top 10 ranked women’s singles player in terms of tournament participation.

 

Sung Jy Hyun is ranked 4th at present

 

She took the title in the women’s singles at the Taipei Open for the third time in July and bagged a large number of points. She now ranks 4th, her highest ever world ranking. If she can do well at the World Championships and the Incheon Asian Games her ranking could rise even further; she now presents a real threat to China’s “three golden flowers”, the top three ranked players in the women’s singles, Li Xuerui. Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan.

 

( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )