Guangzhou: Japan’s Kento Momota who won a total of 10 World Badminton Federation (BWF) World Tour men’s singles titles in 2019, including the World Championships, the Badminton Asia Championships, and the All England, has been chosen as the male player of the year by BWF on Monday.
Momota was the first Japanese player to ever receive that recognition, and he was selected for the honor ahead of other big name nominees such as Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan and Zheng Si Wei.
Meanwhile, China’s mixed doubles World No. 1 player Huang Ya Qiong held off other nominees such as Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota and Tai Tzu Ying to win her second female player of the year award.
Huang and her mixed doubles partner Zheng Si Wei were in spectacular form in 2019 as they claimed their second World Championships in addition to three Super 1000 titles – All England Open, Indonesia Open, China Open.
Here is the complete list of winners for the BWF Player of the Year Award:
Male Player of the Year
* Kento Momota (Men’s Singles, Japan)
– Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; 10 titles overall
Female Player of the Year
* Huang Ya Qiong (Mixed Doubles, China)
– Highlight: Winner – TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019; six titles overall
Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year
* An Se Young (Women’s Singles, Korea)
– Highlight: Five titles overall, including Yonex French Open 2019
Most Improved Player of the Year
* Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong (Women’s Doubles, Korea)
Male Para Badminton Player of the Year
* Qu Zimo (China): 12 gold
Female Para Badminton Player of the Year
* Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia): 12 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
