The Ultimate Guide to Badminton World Championships 2022

The Badminton World Championships had been held from 22 to 28 August at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. This year’s highlight will be for Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew will be defending the men’s singles title he won in December last year.

Here’s everything you need to know about Badminton World Championships 2022:

Day 1 : 22 August

World No. 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark was eliminated by global No. 21 Kento Nishimoto of Japan in the round of 64 matches, which marked the start of the world championships. Other than that, Loh Kean Yew, Viktor Axelsen, Lee Zii Jia, Malaysia’s top shuttler, and two-time world champion Kento Momota had little trouble making it to the round of 32.

Day 2 : 23 August

Most top players advanced their way through Day 2. The world’s top singles players in the men’s and women’s divisions, Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi, advanced without much of a fight, while Indonesia’s top two men’s shuttlers, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie, each defeated their opponents in less than 40 minutes. The only shuttlers from Singapore competing on Tuesday were the women’s doubles team of Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong, who easily advanced to the round of 32. However, after a 70-minute struggle, Commonwealth Games silver winner Ng Tze Yong was eliminated from the men’s singles final.

Day 3 : 24 August

The Singaporean shuttlers had a great day as they all advanced to the round of 16. Loh Kean Yew’s victory over Kevin Cordon of Guatemala was expected, but the men’s doubles team of Terry Hee and Loh Kean Hean ,and the mixed doubles team of Hee and Jessica Tan had to work hard to beat their lower-ranked rivals. As their Japanese rivals withdrew, the women’s doubles team of Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong advanced.

Two-time world champion Kento Momota was eliminated in another match after falling to H.S. Prannoy of India, but other top athletes like Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-Ying, and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon easily advanced.

Day 4 : 25 August

Loh Kean Yew, the defending men’s singles champion, is now the top shuttler in his half of the draw after winning his last-16 match after Hong Kong’s Angus Ng withdrew due to injury midway through. World No. 8 Loh has a clearer path to the final after the unexpected eliminations of Momota (world No. 2), Antonsen (world No. 3), and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia (world No. 5), with only Kulavut Vitidsarn, Zhao Junpeng, and H.S. Prannoy remaining to negotiate in his side of the draw.

The No. 1 singles players in the world, Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi, are still undefeated in their respective bouts. Carolina Marin, a former three-time women’s singles champion, defeated China’s He by coming back from 16-20 down in the last game to win the best match of the day.

Day 5 : 26 August

Loh Kean Yew’s eight-month reign as world champion came to an end in the quarterfinals when he was defeated by Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn, a three-time world junior winner, 12-21, 21-17, and 8-21. Zhao Junpeng of China will play Kunlavut in the semi-finals, while Viktor Axelsen of Sweden will play Chou Tien-chen of China in the other last-four match. Kunlavut defeated Loh in the SEA Games final back in May.

Carolina Marin’s injury comeback came to an end in the quarterfinals when she lost to world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi 17-21, 17-21. Carolina Marin is a three-time women’s singles champion. In the meantime, South Korean duo Choi Sol-gyu and Seo Seung-jae were defeated by men’s doubles team Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-16, maintaining Malaysia’s aspirations of being the first nation to win the World Championships.

Day 6 : 27 August

In a grueling, 78-minute semifinal match, Malaysia’s men’s doubles team of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik defeated India’s Commonwealth Games gold medalists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 20-22, 21-18, 21-16.

In the final, they will compete against three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the defending SEA Games champion, defeated Zhao Junpeng of China 22-20, 21-6 to get to his first World Championships final. He will compete against top seed Viktor Axelsen, who defeated Chou Tien-chen, ranked No. 4, 21-15, 21-17, to advance to his first final since winning the world championship in 2017.

The No. 1 player in the world, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who defeated An Se-young of South Korea 21-19, 21-12 to qualify for the women’s singles final

Day 7 : 28 August

Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik won the men’s doubles final by defeating Indonesia’s Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan 21-19, 21-14 in 40 minutes, ending Malaysia’s protracted search for a badminton world champion.

Global No. 1 Viktor Axelsen defeated Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the men’s singles final in 50 minutes to win his second world title. The Dane now has the world championship to go along with his Olympic gold medal from Tokyo.

Akane Yamaguchi, the top-seeded player in women’s singles, gave the home audience much to cheer about when she successfully defended her world title following a 68-minute match against Chen Yufei of China, winning 21-12, 10-21, and 21-14.