Srikanth Kidambi, PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are the three Indians in fray for the Badminton World Federation’s annual awards. Srikanth and Sindhu are nominated in their respective Player of the Year categories while Satwiksairaj is on the list for Most Promising Player of the Year.
Current world No.1 players Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying headline the nominations for the BWF Player of the Year awards. The winners will be announced ahead of the season-ending Dubai World Superseries Finals next Monday.
The BWF awards recognise the top-achieving player/pair in four categories – Male Player of the Year, Female Player of the Year, Most Promising Player of the Year (Eddy Choong Award) and the Most Improved Player of the Year. The winners of the first three categories are chosen by the BWF Awards Commission from a list of nominees while the Most Improved Player is a special direct award from the Commission.
Olympic silver medallist Sindhu has previously won the Female Player of the Year award.
There are four contenders for Male Player of the Year – Zheng Siwei (China), Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), Kidambi Srikanth (India) and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia).
Six women are on the shortlist for the Female Player of the Year – Chen Qingchen (China), Huang Yaqiong (China), Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Pusarla V Sindhu (India), Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) and Lee So Hee (Korea).
The Eddy Choong Award for the Most Promising Player of the Year will be decided from among five contenders: Chen Yufei (China), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (India), Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia), Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Indonesia) and Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia).