The sport of badminton has had some of the best high-level tournaments and events, raising the bar more with performances of participating players. These events have helped them in reaching the global stage and have massively increased the prominence of the sport.
BWF World Championships
With the inaugural event in 1977, Danish badminton player Lene Køppen won the first women’s singles event in Malmo. Meanwhile, the Japanese duo of Etsuko Toganoo and Emiko Ueno took away the first win in the women’s doubles event.
In the recent edition of the tournament held in Paris, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi won the women’s singles event, while China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning took home the women’s doubles win.
Uber Cup
Also known as the World Women’s Team Championships, the international tournament is held every two years, comprising women’s national badminton teams. The tournament was named after former women’s player Betty Uber, who introduced the idea of a women’s event like the Thomas Cup.
So far in the tournament, China has won 16 titles, Japan has six titles, and the United States and Indonesia have three titles each.
China Masters
It is an annual tournament held in Shenzhen, which has been granted the Super 750 level. The first woman player to win the singles event was China’s Zhang Ning, while the duo of Du Jing and Yu Yang won the doubles event.
South Korea’s An Se-young has won two straight titles in the women’s singles event in the 2024 and 2025 editions. China’s duo of Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian won the doubles event.
Arctic Open
Started in 1990, the international event was done under the name Finnish Open, but since 2023 the name Arctic Open has been given under the BWF World Tour Super 500.
Former Denmark player Pernille Nedergaard won the first women’s singles title, while the Swedish duo of Christine Magnusson and Maria Bengtsson won the first doubles event.
Three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and the Malaysian duo of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan won the singles and doubles women’s events, respectively, in the latest edition of the tournament.
Hong Kong Open
The annual badminton event held in Hong Kong, China, started in 1982. In 2007, the event then came under the Super Series tournaments and started getting categorized as the BWF World Tour Super 500.
The 2025 edition saw China’s Wang Zhiyi getting the victory in women’s singles. The Chinese pair of Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian won the doubles event.
Korea Open
Previously known as the Korea Open Super Series, the event came under the BWF Super Series tournaments and started to get categorized as one of the events in the BWF World Tour Super 500.
The tournament started in 1991 with the inaugural event won by China’s Huang Hua in the women’s singles. Meanwhile, South Korea’s pair of Chung So-young and Hwang Hye-young won the first women’s doubles event.
Japan’s Yamaguchi and South Korea’s duo of Kim Hye-jeong and Kong Hee-yong won the women’s singles and doubles events in the 2025 edition.
England Open
It is the world’s oldest badminton tournament, held every year in England. The first edition consisted of only the doubles event, and the singles event started from the second edition of the tournament.
The former England duo of Meriel Lucas and Mary Graeme won the inaugural edition of the women’s doubles event. Ethel Thomson won the first women’s singles title. The former player won 11 titles at the All-England Badminton Championships.
South Korea’s An Se-young won the women’s singles match, and the Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida won the women’s doubles match in the 2025 edition.
