POLL – Who is most likely to be Europe’s 1st World Champion in 5 years?

Europe’s last World Championship badminton title was mixed doubles in 2009.  Thomas Laybourn has since retired but Kamilla Rytter Juhl is back as one of the strongest contenders to keep a  World Championship title in Europe this summer.

Photos: Badmintonphoto

In our latest Badzine Poll, we ask again for your predictions.  This time, it concerns the Li-Ning BWF World Championships and the likelihood that at least one title will stay in Europe this time.  In New Delhi in 2009, Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl (pictured above) beat all comers to snatch the mixed doubles crown but when the event itself went back to Europe the next two years, Paris and then London played host to Chinese title sweeps.

Australian Open runner-up and world #10 Carolina Marin (ESP) © Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto

The five-year drought for Europe is not the longest the continent has endured.  Shortly after Korea and China made their entrance on the world badminton stage in the early 80s, there was a 10-year gap for Europe, between Thomas Kihlström and Nora Perry’s 1983 mixed doubles triumph and the recapture of the same title by Thomas Lund and Catrine Bengtsson in 1993.

Europe has had to share World Championship gold mostly with Asia but not entirely.  The United States provided one exception when Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan took the men’s doubles title in 2005.  It looked for a time there as though 3-time women’s doubles champion might become an Australian but alas, Africa and Oceania are still on the lookout for their first championship contender.

Among the nine European prospects included in our poll are five players or pairs who have won Superseries titles in the past year, plus two more who reached Superseries finals in the past month.  Please cast your vote for who you think is most likely to end Europe’s 5-year wait and feel free to explain your choice in the comments section below.

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