Is China still in charge as Badminton Worlds start?

The 24th Badminton World Federation World Championships are underway in Nanjing (CHN), with the question being: Is China still the dominant power in the game?

As recently as 2010 and 2011, Chinese entries swept all five events. But beginning in 2013, China has won 3-3-2 events and for 2017, has the top seed in two Doubles events:

Men’s Singles:

  1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
  2. Chong Wei Lee (MAS)
  3. Yuqi Shi (CHN)
  4. Wan Ho Son (KOR)
  5. Srikanth Kidambi (IND)

Defending: Viktor Axelsen (DEN:1 )

Women’s Singles:

  1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
  2. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
  3. V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND)
  4. Ratchanok Intanon (THA)
  5. Yufei Chen (CHN)

Defending: Nozomi Okuhara (JPN: 8)

Men’s Doubles:

  1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
  2. Cheng Liu/Nan Zhang (CHN)
  3. Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN)
  4. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN) ~ Defending Champions
  5. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN)

Women’s Doubles:

  1. Qingchen Chen/Yifan Jia (CHN) ~ Defending Champions
  2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN)
  3. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
  4. Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN)
  5. Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA)

Mixed Doubles:

  1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN)
  2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)
  3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG)
  4. Matthias Christensen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN)
  5. Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN)

Defending Champions: Tontowi Ahmad/Lilyana Natsir (INA)

There are three former World Champions entered who are not seeded in the top five: China’s Long Chen (8) and five-time winner Dan Lin (9) in the men’s Singles and Carolina Marin (ESP: 7) in the women’s Singles. Thailand’s Intanon, seeded fourth, was the 2013 women’s champ.

The Worlds are being held in China for the third time and for the first time in Nanjing, at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Sports Park. The schedule:

  • 30 July-02 August: Preliminaries
  • 03 August: Quarterfinals
  • 04 August: Semifinals
  • 05 August: Finals

Coverage in the U.S. is available on the NBC Olympic Channel. But check for times. Look for results here.