Know who are the former champions and most successful countries at the prestigious BWF World Championships along with the history of the competition, results, winners and 2022 badminton prize money
Along with the Summer Olympics badminton competitions, which were originally introduced in 1992, the BWF World Championships is one of the most prominent badminton events and awards the most ranking points. The victors of this competition are also named the sport’s “World Champions” and get a gold medal.
BWF World Championships Badminton, All Time Past Winners Full List, Results, Most Successful Countries And 2022 Winner Prize Money
The competition was played once every two years until 2005 after becoming biennial in 1985. The tournament was transformed into a yearly event on the BWF calendar beginning in 2006. In order to prevent scheduling problems, the competition is not held during the years of the Summer Olympics. The prize money stands at $1.5 million.
History of BWF World Championships, BWF Event Status, And Host City
Only 20 nations have won at least a bronze medal in the competition since its first edition in 1977: ten in Asia, eight in Europe, one in Pan America, and one in Oceania. The only continent without a medal is Africa. Denmark was the overwhelming winner during the 1977 inaugural competition in Malmö. Lene Kppen won gold in both the singles and mixed doubles events, giving the nation three golds, a silver, and a bronze. Indonesia won four championships at the 1980 second edition in Jakarta.
Ratchanok Intanon made history at the Championships by becoming the youngest singles champion at the age of 18. In the men’s singles competition in Nanjing in 2018, Kento Momota made history by becoming the first player from Japan to win the gold medal. In the men’s singles competition in 2015, he gave Japan its first medal by taking home the bronze.
Along with Zhang Ning of China, P.V. Sindhu is the only other woman singles player to have won five World Championship medals. She also became the first Indian athlete to win the gold medal in the World Championships.
Past winners list of BWF World Championships
Since the inception of BWF World Championships, only one Indian shuttler has managed to become champion in any category. PV Sindhu won the gold in 2019 edition, which is India’s sole gold medal in the competition. India has failed to produce a champion in any of the other categories. Till date, India has won a total of 12 medals in the competition including one gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals.
Year | Host city | Men’s Singles Winner | Women’s Singles Winner |
1977 | Malmö | Denmark Flemming Delfs | Denmark Lene Køppen |
1980 | Jakarta | Indonesia Rudy Hartono | Indonesia Verawaty Fadjrin |
1983 | Copenhagen | Indonesia Icuk Sugiarto | China Li Lingwei |
1985 | Calgary | China Han Jian | China Han Aiping |
1987 | Beijing | China Yang Yang | China Han Aiping |
1989 | Jakarta | China Yang Yang | China Li Lingwei |
1991 | Copenhagen | China Zhao Jianhua | China Tang Jiuhong |
1993 | Birmingham | Indonesia Joko Suprianto | Indonesia Susi Susanti |
1995 | Lausanne | Indonesia Hariyanto Arbi | China Ye Zhaoying |
1997 | Glasgow | Denmark Peter Rasmussen | China Ye Zhaoying |
1999 | Copenhagen | China Sun Jun | Denmark Camilla Martin |
2001 | Seville | Indonesia Hendrawan | China Gong Ruina |
2003 | Birmingham | China Xia Xuanze | China Zhang Ning |
2005 | Anaheim | Indonesia Taufik Hidayat | China Xie Xingfang |
2006 | Madrid | China Lin Dan | China Xie Xingfang |
2007 | Kuala Lumpur | China Lin Dan | China Zhu Lin |
2009 | Hyderabad | China Lin Dan | China Lu Lan |
2010 | Paris | China Chen Jin | China Wang Lin |
2011 | London | China Lin Dan | China Wang Yihan |
2013 | Guangzhou | China Lin Dan | Thailand Ratchanok Intanon |
2014 | Copenhagen | China Chen Long | Spain Carolina Marín |
2015 | Jakarta | China Chen Long | Spain Carolina Marín |
2017 | Glasgow | Denmark Viktor Axelsen | Japan Nozomi Okuhara |
2018 | Nanjing | Japan Kento Momota | Spain Carolina Marín |
2019 | Basel | Japan Kento Momota | India P. V. Sindhu |
2021 | Huelva | Singapore Loh Kean Yew | Japan Akane Yamaguchi |
BWF World Championships Most Successful Countries
The medals were typically distributed among China, Korea, Denmark, Indonesia, and Malaysia from 1977 to 2001. However, in 2003 there were seven nations among the winners, and a record-breaking ten nations were represented on the medal board in 2005. Tony Gunawan also has the distinction of representing two nations and winning a gold medal in men’s doubles.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
1 | China | 67 | 47 | 77 | 191 |
2 | Indonesia | 23 | 18 | 36 | 77 |
3 | Denmark | 10.5 | 14 | 40 | 64.5 |
4 | South Korea | 10 | 14 | 31 | 55 |
5 | Japan | 8 | 7 | 18 | 33 |
6 | Spain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
7 | England | 2.5 | 8.5 | 13 | 24 |
8 | Thailand | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
9 | India | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
10 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
11 | Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
13 | Malaysia | 0 | 8 | 13 | 21 |
14 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
15 | Hong Kong | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
16 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
17 | Scotland | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 |
18 | Germany | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
19 | France | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Vietnam | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Overall | 130 | 129 | 260 | 519 |