Badminton has a crowded calendar, but only a handful of events decide a player’s place in history. The Olympic Games and the World Championships crown individual champions, the Thomas, Uber and Sudirman Cups decide which nation is strongest, and the BWF World Tour, led by the All England Open, fills the rest of the year. This overview explains what each event is, who holds the titles right now and which tournaments are still to come in the 2026 season.
Still to come in 2026
The autumn swing through Europe opens in October, before the tour moves back to Asia for November and the season ends with the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in December.
| Dates | Tournament | Level | Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6–11 Oct | Arctic Open | Super 500 | Vantaa, Finland |
| 13–18 Oct | Denmark Open | Super 750 | Odense, Denmark |
| 20–25 Oct | French Open | Super 750 | Paris, France |
| 27 Oct – 1 Nov | Hylo Open | Super 500 | Saarbrücken, Germany |
| 10–15 Nov | Japan Masters | Super 500 | Kumamoto, Japan |
| 17–22 Nov | Hong Kong Open | Super 500 | Hong Kong |
| 24–29 Nov | Syed Modi International | Super 300 | Lucknow, India |
| 9–13 Dec | BWF World Tour Finals | Finals | Hangzhou, China |
Smaller Super 100 events run alongside, among them the Malaysia Super 100, the Kaohsiung Masters and the Guwahati and Odisha Masters in India.
Current title holders
| Title | Holder |
|---|---|
| World champion, men’s singles (2026) | Alex Lanier (France) |
| World champion, women’s singles (2026) | An Se-young (South Korea) |
| Thomas Cup (2026) | China |
| Uber Cup (2026) | South Korea |
| Sudirman Cup (2025) | China |
| All England Open, singles (2026) | Lin Chun-yi (Chinese Taipei), Wang Zhiyi (China) |
| Olympic champions, singles (2024) | Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), An Se-young (South Korea) |
The Olympic Games
Badminton was shown as a demonstration sport at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and as an exhibition in Seoul in 1988 before it became a full medal sport at Barcelona in 1992. Barcelona had four events; mixed doubles was added in Atlanta in 1996, completing today’s program of five.
Entry is based on the BWF world ranking at the end of the qualification period, with limits per country, so the Olympic draw is smaller than a World Tour event. Singles begin with a group stage, followed by knockout rounds. For most players an Olympic gold is the highest prize in the sport. The next Olympic tournament is part of Los Angeles 2028.
| Event | Paris 2024 champion |
|---|---|
| Men’s singles | Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) |
| Women’s singles | An Se-young (South Korea) |
| Men’s doubles | Lee Yang / Wang Chi-lin (Chinese Taipei) |
| Women’s doubles | Chen Qingchen / Jia Yifan (China) |
| Mixed doubles | Zheng Siwei / Huang Yaqiong (China) |
BWF World Championships
The first World Championships were held in Malmö, Sweden, in 1977. For many years they took place every two or three years; today they are held every year except in Olympic years. Unlike World Tour events there is no prize money, and entries are limited per nation, so the title is pure prestige. A world title ranks just below Olympic gold in the sport’s hierarchy.
The 2026 edition was played at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi in August and became France’s best World Championships so far. Alex Lanier beat Kodai Naraoka 21–11, 21–11 to become the first French men’s singles world champion, and Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue won France’s first mixed doubles title. An Se-young regained the women’s singles crown against defending champion Akane Yamaguchi.
| Event | 2026 world champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s singles | Alex Lanier (France) | Kodai Naraoka (Japan) |
| Women’s singles | An Se-young (South Korea) | Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) |
| Men’s doubles | Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang (China) | Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik (Malaysia) |
| Women’s doubles | Baek Ha-na / Lee So-hee (South Korea) | Liu Shengshu / Tan Ning (China) |
| Mixed doubles | Thom Gicquel / Delphine Delrue (France) | Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping (China) |
Thomas Cup and Uber Cup
The Thomas Cup is the men’s world team championship. It was donated by Sir George Thomas, a leading English player and first president of the International Badminton Federation, and first contested in 1948–49, when Malaya won. The women’s equivalent, the Uber Cup, is named after the English champion Betty Uber and was first played in 1956–57. The United States won the first three editions.
Since 1984 both cups have been played together at one venue, now every even-numbered year. Each tie consists of five matches: three singles and two doubles. Teams play a group stage followed by knockout rounds. Indonesia has won the Thomas Cup 14 times, more than any other nation, and China the Uber Cup 16 times.
The 2026 finals were held in Horsens, Denmark, from 24 April to 3 May. China defended the Thomas Cup against France, its twelfth title, while South Korea beat defending champions China to win the Uber Cup for the third time.
Sudirman Cup
The Sudirman Cup is the world mixed team championship, first held in Jakarta in 1989 and now played every odd-numbered year. It is named after Dick Sudirman, a founder of the Indonesian badminton association. Each tie includes one match in each of the five events, so a nation needs strength in men’s and women’s singles and all three doubles to win.
China has won the cup far more often than any other team. In Xiamen in 2025 it beat South Korea 3–1 in the final for a record 14th title and its fourth in a row. The next edition follows in 2027.
All England Open
The All England Open Badminton Championships, first held in London in 1899, is the oldest badminton tournament in the world. The first edition was doubles only; singles followed in 1900. Until the World Championships began in 1977, the All England was regarded as the unofficial world championship, which is why Rudy Hartono’s eight titles still carry so much weight.
The event has been held in Birmingham since 1994 and is one of four Super 1000 tournaments on the BWF World Tour. Its long history gives it a status among players that its ranking points alone do not explain.
| Event | 2026 champion |
|---|---|
| Men’s singles | Lin Chun-yi (Chinese Taipei) |
| Women’s singles | Wang Zhiyi (China) |
| Men’s doubles | Kim Won-ho / Seo Seung-jae (South Korea) |
| Women’s doubles | Liu Shengshu / Tan Ning (China) |
| Mixed doubles | Ye Hong-wei / Nicole Gonzales Chan (Chinese Taipei) |
Both singles champions won their first All England title in March 2026: Lin Chun-yi beat Lakshya Sen in the final, Wang Zhiyi beat top seed An Se-young.
The BWF World Tour
The BWF World Tour began in 2018 and replaced the Superseries, which had run from 2007 to 2017. Tournaments are grouped into levels. The level decides the minimum prize money, the size of the draw and the number of ranking points: a Super 1000 winner earns far more points than the winner of a Super 100. The 2026 season is the ninth and ends with the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, worth 3.5 million US dollars in prize money.
| Level | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| World Tour Finals | Season finale for the top eight of each event, group stage then semifinals | Held in December |
| Super 1000 | The four biggest tour events | All England Open, Indonesia Open, China Open, Malaysia Open |
| Super 750 | Major events with strong fields | Denmark Open, French Open, Japan Open, India Open, Singapore Open, China Masters |
| Super 500 | Mid-level tour events | Arctic Open, Hylo Open, Japan Masters, Hong Kong Open |
| Super 300 | Lower tour level, mixed fields of established and rising players | Korea Masters, Syed Modi International, US Open |
| Super 100 | Entry level of the tour | Vietnam Open, Kaohsiung Masters, Odisha Masters |
Below the World Tour sit the International Challenge and International Series events, where young players and smaller nations collect their first ranking points.
Continental and junior championships
Each continent has its own individual championships, among them the Asian Championships, the European Championships and the Pan American Championships. They carry ranking points and national prestige, and for many smaller countries they are the most important event of the year. Badminton is also part of the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Pan American Games.
The BWF World Junior Championships, for players under 19, include an individual event and a mixed team event. Many later Olympic champions first came to attention there.
A season at a glance
The badminton year follows a fairly fixed rhythm. It opens in January in Asia with the Malaysia Open, a Super 1000, and the India Open. The All England Open in Birmingham follows in March, together with other European events. The team championships, the Thomas and Uber Cups in even years and the Sudirman Cup in odd years, take place in spring.
The summer brings the Asian swing with the Indonesia Open and the Japan Open, and the World Championships are usually held in August, except in Olympic years, when the Olympic tournament takes their place. The autumn European tour includes the Arctic Open, the Denmark Open, the French Open and the Hylo Open, and the season ends in December with the World Tour Finals.
Following the tournaments
The BWF website, bwfbadminton.com, publishes the calendar, draws, live scores and rankings. Detailed draw sheets and match results are on tournamentsoftware.com, which the BWF uses for all its events. Matches are streamed on the BWF TV channel on YouTube in many countries, and national broadcasters cover the major events.
More on this site: how tournament draws and progression work and the greatest players.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important badminton tournament?
The Olympic Games, followed by the World Championships. Among regular tour events, the All England Open has the greatest tradition.
Who are the current badminton world champions?
At the 2026 World Championships in New Delhi, Alex Lanier of France won the men’s singles and An Se-young of South Korea the women’s singles. The doubles titles went to Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, and Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
When are the 2026 World Tour Finals?
From 9 to 13 December 2026 in Hangzhou, China.
How do players qualify for the World Tour Finals?
The top eight players or pairs in each event on the season’s World Tour ranking qualify, with a maximum of two per country.
What is the difference between the Thomas Cup and the Sudirman Cup?
The Thomas Cup is for men’s teams only and the Uber Cup for women’s teams. The Sudirman Cup is a mixed team event with one match in each of the five disciplines.
