PARIS, April 7, 2025 - As the HSBC BWF World tour finished its European leg with 4 major tournaments back-to-back, the shuttlers are set for their individual continental events before the big showdown: the BWF Total Energies Sudirman Cup, which is the World Mixed Team Championships, to be held in the city of Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4.

Four big events were played back-to-back in Mulheim (Germany), Orléans (France), Birmingham (England) and Basel (Switzerland) between February and March, with some players returning to the circuit following a long break after the Olympics. Tokyo 2020 gold medalist in the women’s singles, Chen Yufei, for instance, had a long stay in Australia after the Paris Games and came back in Orléans, full of new energy - and fluent English. The Chinese was beaten in the final of the Super 300 event by none other than An Se Young. It was a unique match between the last two Olympic queens. The 22 year-old Korean seems unbeatable as she also scooped the mythical Yonex All England, one of the top four tournaments in the world.

In the men's singles 29-year-old Chinese Shi Yuqi showed that age doesn’t matter as he won the All England title for the second time, seven years after he won it for the first time. He beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia-Hao in the final to secure the crown. The latter had ended the dream run of the new kid on the block, Alex Lanier, in the semis. The 20-year-old Frenchman, who stunned the world once again by winning the Orleans Masters the previous week and entering the world’s top 10. Lanier appears to be one of the world’s next big stars with his Samurai-like pony-tail and relaxed behavior on court.

Shi Yuqi’s success is a clear sign that China is getting ready for the big team event of the year – the Total Energies BWF Sudirman Cup, which will not only see the world’s best 16 teams compete for the title, but also a change of leadership for the sport’s global governing body. Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer is to step down as president of BWF, giving way to current vice-president KhunyingPatama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand, who is the only candidate to replace him. The election will also decide on new council members entering the Badminton World Federation for the next four years.

The sport is also looking at key changes. During the AGM there will be discussions over possible modifications to make the sport even more appealing. The BWF has recently launched a campaign to test the 3 games of 15 points format (instead of the current 3x21 points) in selected events for a potential validation of this new scoring in its 2026 AGM, should experimentation prove to be successful. The aim is to shorten matches, making them more exciting to watch. Top players have also voiced their concerns about a heavy calendar and injuries – top stars Viktor Axelsen and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia will undergo treatments following injuries and will be out of competition for a while. Shorter matches should partially address this issue, while other solutions have been expressed – for instance Axelsen pleads for major tournaments to be held over more days. Something that will have to wait until the new circle of tournaments from 2027 onwards to be implemented.