Guangzhou: Indonesian men’s doubles pair Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo has won the 2018 BWF Male Player of the Year, claiming the highly-coveted award for the second successive year.
The Asian Games champions Gideon/Sukamuljo beat the competition from the likes of World No. 1 men’s singles Kento Momota and China’s mixed doubles specialist Zheng Siwei for the top honor.
Kevin and Marcus’ have made remarkable achievements in 2018. They won eight of the nine finals they’ve reached and their win-loss record was 49-3 this year.
“It’s a great honor to win this award for the second consecutive time,” said Sukamuljo.
“It’s a motivation for us to keep going. Our highlight was winning the Asian Games,” added Sukamuljo.
China’s mixed doubles player Huang Yaqiong and her mixed doubles partner Zheng Siwei who had a brilliant season with five Super 750 titles on the BWF World Tour, finally won the prestigious BWF Female Player of the Year.
“I was nominated last year but lost to Chen Qingchen, but I am glad I finally won it, I am really excited,” said Huang.
Below are the winners of the 2018 BWF Player of the Year Awards:
Male Player of the Year: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia)
Female Player of the Year: Huang Yaqiong (China)
Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year: Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong (China)
Most Improved Player of the Year: Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara (Japan)
Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year: Jack Shephard (England)
Female Para-Badminton Player of the Year: Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia)
