Badminton is considered one of the most competitive sports in the world. Dominated by Asian countries. lets look into top badminton players.
But now we see that the European players are climbing the world badminton rankings in recent years. Below is the list of Men’s Singles players, who are currently (as of 15 June, 2021) in Top 10 of BWF World Rankings.
List of Top badminton players in the world right now
1. Kento Momota (Japan)
Currently, the title of being world No. 1 in Men’s Singles is with Japan’s Kento Momota. The 26-year-old has a career record of 340 wins, 80 losses in men’s singles. He is a Left Handed player known for his skillful and relentless play of style on the court.
Kento Momota has won several major badminton tournaments such as; (2018 & 2019) BWF World Championships titles, (2018 & 2019) Asian Championships titles and the prestigious (2019) All England Open. At the BWF World Championships 2015 – he won bronze medal as he lost the semi-finals to Chen Long.
In September 2018, he became the 1st Japanese men’s singles player to occupy the world No. 1 in the BWF World Rankings. For Kento Momota 2019 was a great year, as he achieved great success by winning various tournaments and titles. Subsequently he went onto enter the Guinness Book of World Records for “The most badminton men’s singles titles in a season”, as he won 11 titles in the 2019 season.
He was awarded the BWF Best Male Player of the Year in 2019. He will be making his Olympic debut in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
2. Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)
The 27-year-old from Denmark is Right Handed and has a career record of 393 wins, 135 losses. He is currently ranked 2nd in the world.
Some of his major achievements would be winning the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, gold medal at 2017 BWF World Championships and being crowned as European Champion (men’s singles) in 2016 and 2018.
His highest ever ranking was No.1, which he achieved in September 2017, after winning the finals of both 2017 BWF World Championships & 2017 Japan Open. Viktor Axelsen won the prestigious All England Open in 2020 for the first time.
3. Anders Antonsen (Denmark)
The 24-year-old has a career record of 223 wins, 68 losses. He is currently ranked 3rd in the world, which is his highest ranking ever.
Anders Antonsen major achievements so far would be, he won silver medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships, which was held in Basel, Switzerland – there he lost at the final against the reigning champion Kento Momota. His gold medal at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus.
He has won two European Championships medals, silver medal in 2017 & gold medal in 2021.
4. Chou Tien-chen (Chinese Taipei)
The 31-year-old is currently ranked 4th in the world. The Right Handed player has a career record of 381 wins, 203 losses. He in 2016 won the men’s singles title of the Chinese Taipei Open – becoming the 1st local shuttler in 17 years to win it since Indonesian-born Fung Permadi won it in 1999.
His first BWF Super Series title was at the 2014 French Open, where he defeated Wang Zhengming of China 10–21, 25–23, 21–19 in the finals. Chou Tien-chen won the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold titles from 2012 till 2014, three consecutive times – a record.
His major achievements would be winning silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games and bronze medal at the 2019 Asian Championships.
5. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia)
The Indonesian shuttler first rose when he won the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. He is currently ranked 5th in the world. He has a career record of 192 wins, 110 losses. His highest ranking ever was 3 (February 2020).
He won bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, losing the semi- final match against the silver medalist Chou Tien-chen. Ginting won his first title in the Korea Open in 2017 after defeating compatriot Jonatan Christie in the final.
In 2018, he won his first ever BWF World Tour title in his homeland by becoming the champion of the Indonesia Masters by defeating Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21–13, 21–12 in the final. In 2019-2020, Ginting was finalists in five tournaments; he won his 2nd title of Indonesia Masters in January 2020.
Also Read: Debutants On Fire For India In The England W vs India W Test Match
6. Chen Long (China)
The 32-year-old has a career record of 441 wins, 114 losses. He is currently ranked 6th in the world. Chen was a former world No.1; he occupied the top spot in men’s singles ranking from December 2014 to June 2016.
Long has won his first ever gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics; he is the reigning Olympic Champion. He had won bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Chen Long won silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon by losing to his compatriot Lin Dan in the final.
He is a two-time World Champion by winning two consecutive men’s singles title at BWF World Championships in 2014 and 2015. Asian Champion in 2017 by winning the Asian Championships 2017. Chen Long has won the prestigious badminton tournament All England Open a total of two times – in 2013 and 2015.
7. Jonatan Christie (Indonesia)
The 23-year-old from Jakarta, Indonesia has a career record of 216 wins, 109 losses. He is currently ranked 7th in the world and his highest ever ranking was 4 (August 2019). In 2013, Jonatan Christie won his first international senior title at the age of 15 by defeating the experienced Alamsyah Yunus in the final of Indonesia International Challenge.
He won gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta after beating Chou Tien-chen in the final by 21–18, 20–22, 21–15.
8. Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia)
Lee Zii Jia has a career record of 166 wins, 77 losses, he is currently ranked 8th in the world. This is his highest ever ranking. He won his first senior title at the Polish International, in September 2017 where he competed against Soong Joo Ven in the final.
He won his first BWF World Tour title – 2018 Chinese Taipei Open where he defeated Japanese player Riichi Takeshita in the final. On his way to the final, he defeated Chou Tien-chen in the semifinals.
The 23-year-old won the prestigious All England Open for the 1st time in 2021 by defeating the defending champion Viktor Axelsen in the final.
9. Ng Ka Long Angus (Hong Kong)
The 26-year-old has a career record of 259 wins, 152 losses. He is currently ranked 9th in the world. His highest ever ranking was 6 (November 2017). In 2013, he was the runner-up at the Vietnam International Challenge in the men’s singles category.
He won the China International Challenge, Osaka International Challenge and Irish Open in 2014 and was the runner-up at the Canadian Grand Prix and the Swiss International tournaments in the same year.
In 2015, he won his first Grand Prix title at the Bitburger Open. He won his 1st ever BWF World Tour title in 2020 by winning the Thailand Masters by defeating Kenta Nishimoto in the final.
10. Wang Tzu-wei (Chinese Taipei)
The 26-year-old is currently ranked 10th in the world. His highest ever ranking was 9 (February 2021). He has a career record of 240 wins, 154 losses.
In 2014, he won his first international title at the New Zealand Open tournament.
By winning the 2019 Syed Modi International against Sourabh Verma he captured his very first BWF World Tour title.
As we conclude the Current Top 10 Men’s Singles Players in the World, this series (Current top 10 badminton players in the world) shall continue. Keep watching this space for more.