The women’s singles category is the most competitive one, here are the top female badminton players who can defeat anyone at any given day
The top spot in the BWF World Rankings, are dominated by Asian players – as we can see in the following list below where there is only one European player. Let’s look into the list of Women’s Singles players, who are currently in the top 10 of BWF World Rankings.
List of The Top female badminton players in the world right now
1. Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei)
The 27-year-old is currently on top of the BWF World Rankings – in women’s singles category. Out of all the women’s singles matches she had played till now, she has a career record of 406 wins, 152 losses.
Some of her achievements are Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, she was crowned Asia Champion twice, as she won back-to-back Asian Championships, in 2017 & 2018.
Tai Tzu-ying performed excellently at the annual tournament which is held at the end of the year, where the players with the most points earned from that calendar year competed. Such a tournament is BWF Super Series Finals (which is now replaced by BWF World Tour Finals).
Out of the 3 times when she reached the finals of BWF Super Series Finals, she won it twice both against South Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun in 2014 and 2016. Tai reached the final of 2019 BWF World Tour Finals, but eventually lost to Chen Yufei. She came back strongly as she won the 2020 BWF World Tour Finals after defeating reigning Olympic Champion Carolina Marín with a score of 14-21, 21-8, 21-19 in the final.
Tai Tzu-ying has won the prestigious All England Open tournament three times (2017, 2018 and 2020).
She became world No. 1 in 2016 for the first time in her career. After that she was on top on the table for 72 consecutive weeks from 1 December 2016 to 18 April 2018. Tai Tzu-ying holds the record for most weeks ranked at the top in the women’s singles category with 161 weeks.
2. Chen Yufei (China)
The 23-year-old is currently ranked 2nd in the world and has a career record of 233 wins, 76 losses. Chen Yufei reached her career’s highest world No.1 rank in the BWF World Rankings on 17th December 2019.
Her major achievements include being a bronze medalist twice at the BWF World Championships in 2017 and 2019. At the Asian Championships she overall has two medals, a silver and bronze medal in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
In 2017, she was awarded the, “Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year” by BWF during their annual Gala Awards night. Yufei won her first ever World tour title by winning a Super 750 event, the 2018 Fuzhou China Open, as she won the final and broke her jinx of losing in the finals.
For Chen Yufei, 2019 was an amazing year as she won multiple titles. Starting with the prestigious 2019 All England Open, which she won for the very first time in her career after defeating Tai Tzu-ying 17 -21, 17-21 in the final. With this she won her first super 1000 title.
At the year-end tournament, BWF World Tour Finals 2019 – she won the final against Tai Tzu-ying, ended the year with style. With a total of 7 titles earned in 2019, she became world No.1. Till now she has won 9 BWF World Tour titles, 1 BWF Grand Prix title.
3. Nozomi Okuhara (Japan)
The 26-year-old from Japan is currently ranked 3rd in the world. She was world No.1, her highest ever ranking for two weeks from 29 October 2019 to 11 November 2019 before losing the top spot to Tai Tzu-ying. Her career record is 325 wins, 103 losses, making her one of the top female badminton players.
Nozomi Okuhara’s major achievements are bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, gold medal at the 2017 BWF World Championships. By finishing at the podium in 2016 Rio Olympics, she made a record as she became Japan’s first ever Badminton Women’s singles player to win an Olympic medal.
During the end of the 2015 BWF season, she bagged the annual year-end tournament BWF Super Series Finals as she defeated Wang Yihan 22–20, 21–18 in the final.
In 2016, she won the prestigious All England Open for the very 1st time, that too on her birthday – 13th March, as she won the final against Wang Shixian. Okuhara won her 2nd All England Open title in 2021. Throughout her career, till now – she has won 5 BWF World Tour titles, 4 BWF Superseries titles and 6 BWF Grand Prix titles.
4. Carolina Marin (Spain)
The 28-year-old Spaniard is currently ranked 4th in the world. Her career record is 410 wins, 116 losses. Her notable achievements being, she is the reigning Olympic Champion, a three-time World Champion, five-time European Champion, and being the former World’s No. 1 in BWF rankings – holding the top spot for overall 66 weeks.
European Championships – which she has won for 5 times in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021 respectively to see her be in the list of the top female badminton players.
Her 1st ever BWF World Championships title came in August 2014, where she defeated Li Xuerui of China 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 in the final and became the first Spaniard to win a World Championship title. Then she was 21 and became the youngest European that won the World Championships ever. She then went on to win the World Championships twice after that triumph – in 2015 & 2018 respectively.
In 2015, she won the prestigious All England Open – for the very 1st time after defeating Saina Nehwal in the final. She went on to become world No.1 in June 2015. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she defeated India’s P. V. Sindhu in a thrilling final, to win the gold medal. By doing so she became the first non-Asian to win the Olympic badminton women’s singles final.
Carolina Marin won’t be able to defend her Olympic medal as she pulled out of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to knee injury.
5. Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)
The 24-year-old is currently ranked 5th in the world. She has a career record of 311 wins, 112 losses. Her highest ever ranking was 1 (April 2018).
Akane Yamaguchi’s major achievements are bronze medal at the 2018 BWF World Championships, 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist and she was crowned the 2019 Asian Champion in the women’s singles category by defeating He Bingjiao of China in the final.
Akane Yamaguchi has been awarded the “Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year” by BWF two times in 2013 and 2014. Till now she has won 6 BWF World Tour titles, 5 BWF Super Series titles and 2 BWF Grand Prix titles.
Also Read: Top Badminton Players: Top 10 Men’s Singles Players In The World
6. Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)
Ratchanok Intanon is currently ranked 6th in the world and has a career record of 405 wins, 181 losses. The 26-year-olds highest ever ranking was 1 (April 2016), she was at the top of BWF World Rankings for two weeks.
Her major achievements are – World Champion in 2013, where she achieved the gold medal after claiming victory against Li Xuerui in the final at Guangzhou, China. In 2015, she earned the title of Asian Champion by beating Li Xuerui in the final. As mentioned above she won the 2013 BWF World Championships, by doing so she became the first-ever Thai player to be the World Champion.
In 2016, she climbed the world rankings table – to reach the spot of world No. 1, by doing so she became the first Thai to achieve this feat. Till now she has won 4 BWF World Tour titles, 6 BWF Superseries titles and 7 BWF Grand Prix titles.
7. P. V. Sindhu (India)
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad, India is currently ranked 7th in the world. Sindhu has a career record of 344 wins, 148 losses. Her highest ever ranking was 2nd in the top female badminton players pile.
P. V. Sindhu’s major achievements are silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships. With this triumph, Sindhu is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and the first Indian woman to earn an Olympic silver medal.
At the World Championships, other than her victory in 2019, she has also won four medals at the tournament, 2 Silver (2017 & 2018) and 2 Bronze (2013 & 2014). She won silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games after losing the final to Tai Tzu-ying. At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she won the silver medal as she lost the final to compatriot Saina Nehwal.
P.V. Sindhu won the year-end tournament – the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals after winning the final against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara with a score of 21-19, 21-17 in the final. Till now Sindhu has won 1 BWF World Tour title, 3 BWF Superseries titles and 6 BWF Grand Prix titles.
8. An Se-young (South Korea)
The 19-year-old from Gwangju, South Korea is currently ranked 8th in the world. This is her highest ranking ever. Se-young have a career record of 125 wins, 32 losses.
An Se-young won her 1st BWF World Tour title in 2019 as she won the Super 300 New Zealand Open by defeating the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui of China with a score of 21–19, 21–15 in the final. In 2019, she was awarded the “Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year” by BWF.
Till now her achievements are 5 BWF World Tour titles and 1 BWF International Challenge/Series title.
9. He Bingjiao (China)
The 24-year-old is currently ranked 9th in the world. She has a career record of 212 wins, 85 losses. Her highest ever ranking in the top female badminton players is 6 (July 2018).
Some of her major achievements are – she won bronze medal at the 2018 BWF World Championships. At Asian Championships, she has won two medals – silver in 2019 and bronze in 2017. In her overall career, He Bingjiao has won 1 BWF World Tour title, 2 BWF Superseries titles and 5 BWF Grand Prix titles.
10. Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand)
The 23-year-old Thai is currently ranked 10th in the world. This is her highest ranking ever. She has a career record of 196 wins, 113 losses.
In 2020, Chochuwong won her 1st ever BWF World Tour title – by winning the Super 300 Spain Masters final against the Olympic champion Carolina Marín. She made her top 10 debut in the BWF world ranking on 23 March 2021, after reaching the final of the prestigious tournament All England Open, which she lost to Nozomi Okuhara. Till now she has won 1 BWF World Tour title and 3 BWF International Challenge/Series titles.