New Para-Badminton Player of the Year to be named Monday

Two-time Para-Badminton World Championship triple-crown winner Rachel Choong is in the running with three wheelchair athletes to be named the brand-new Female Para-Badminton Player of the Year.

Photos: Don Hearn / Badmintonphoto

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced today the candidates for Female and Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year.  In the women’s division, a new winner is sure to be named.  England’s Rachel Choong, who won three golds at the recent World Championships in Ulsan, is both the only European and the only candidate from among the standing categories.

Wheelchair mixed doubles champion Amnouy Wetwithan has also been named, along with her women’s doubles partner Sujirat Pookkham, also of Thailand.  Wetwithan won the triple crown at the Irish International, while Pookham and Japan’s Yuma Yamazaki, the fourth candidate for Player of the Year, won two titles at the Thailand and USA International respectively.

For Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year, both 2016 winner Lucas Mazur of France and 2015 winner Lee Sam Seop of Korea have again been nominated.  Also nominated is Lee’s men’s doubles partner Kim Jung Jun, the only other wheelchair double-gold medallist at the Worlds in Ulsan.  The final candidate is Cheah Liek Hou of Malaysia.  Cheah was limited to one gold each at the Worlds and at the ASEAN Para Games but he won two titles on each of four other occasions in 2017.  Mazur is the only one of the four who also celebrated his first world title this year but it was at the Irish International that he won two titles in one day.

Both awards will be presented at the Players’ Reception and Gala Dinner in Dubai next Monday night, part of the early festivities set to precede the Superseries Finals.

Below are the season highlights of each nominee (listed alphabetically by member association), as presented in the BWF press release:

MALE PARA-BADMINTON PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Lucas Mazur (France): SL 4 Men’s Singles (MS) and Men’s Doubles (MD)

Overall: 5 Gold, 5 Silver, 3 Bronze
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (MS)
Winner: Spanish Para-Badminton International (MS); Ireland Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); Japan Para-Badminton International (MS)

Kim Jung Jun (Korea): WH 2 Men’s Singles (MS); Men’s Doubles (MD) and Mixed Doubles (XD)

Overall: 12 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (MS & MD)
Winner: Spanish Para-Badminton International (MS, MD, XD); Thailand Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); Japan Para-Badminton International (MS, XD); USA Para-Badminton International (MS, MD, XD)

Lee Sam Seop (Korea): WH 1 Men’s Singles (MS); Men’s Doubles (MD) and Mixed Doubles (XD)

Overall: 7 Gold, 5 Silver, 2 Bronze
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (MS & MD)
Silver Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (XD)
Winner: Thailand Para-Badminton International (MD); Ireland Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); Japan Para-Badminton International (MD); USA Para-Badminton International (MD)

Cheah Liek Hou (Malaysia): SU 5 Men’s Singles (MS) and Men’s Doubles (MD)

Overall: 9 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (MS)
Silver Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (MD)
Winner: Spanish Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); Thailand Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); Japan Para-Badminton International (MS, MD); USA Para-Badminton International (MS, MD) [ASEAN Para Games (MS)]

FEMALE PARA-BADMINTON PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Rachel Choong (England): SS 6 Women’s Singles (WS); Women’s Doubles (WD); and Mixed Doubles (XD)

Overall: 9 Gold
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (WS, WD, XD)
Winner: Spanish Para-Badminton International (WS, XD); Ireland Para-Badminton International (WS, XD); Japan Para-Badminton International (WS, XD);

Yuma Yamazaki (Japan): WH 2 Women’s Singles (WS) and Women’s Doubles (WD)

Overall: 5 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze
Winner: Peru Para-Badminton International (WS, WD); Japan Para-Badminton International (WS); USA Para-Badminton International (WS, WD)

Sujirat Pookkham (Thailand): WH 1 Women’s Singles (WS); Women’s Doubles (WD); and Mixed Doubles (XD)

Overall: 5 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
Winner: Thailand Para-Badminton International (WS, WD); Ireland Para-Badminton International (XD); Japan Para-Badminton International (WS, WD)

Amnouy Wetwithan (Thailand): WH 2 Women’s Singles (WS); Women’s Doubles (WD); and Mixed Doubles (XD)

Overall: 7 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
Gold Medal: BWF Para-Badminton World Championships (XD)
Winner: Thailand Para-Badminton International (WS, WD); Ireland Para-Badminton International (WS, WD, XD); Japan Para-Badminton International (WD); [ASEAN Para Games (WS)]