Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou
Featured image credit: Hangzhou 2022
The Chinese city of Hangzhou has been awarded hosting rights to badminton’s new season finale event for the next four years.
The host city of this year’s 19th Asian Games will stage the new season-ending HSBC BWF World Tour Finals from 2023 to 2027, with the inaugural event taking place this December.
The event is the culmination of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) new 31-event World Tour calendar, with more Super 1000, Super 750, and Super 500 tournaments.
The BWF did not confirm which venue will host the tournament, but badminton at this year’s Asian Games will be held at the 5,000-capacity Binjiang Gymnasium.
“It is with great excitement to confirm Hangzhou, China as the host of our flagship HSBC BWF World Tour Finals for this cycle,” said Thomas Lund, the BWF’s secretary general.
“Badminton is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world with all-time high participation and fan numbers and Hangzhou with its superb sporting infrastructure and experience in staging elite international events is an ideal host for our finals.”
The World Tour Finals will feature the top eight players and pairs at the end of the series.
Binjiang Gymnasium is located in central Hangzhou, just to the south of the river and close to the Sports Center Park. Built in 2015, and known for its distinctive ‘Lotus Bowl’ design, the arena was the home of Chinese Basketball Association side Zhejiang Golden Bulls until being closed in 2020 due to a major renovation project ahead of the Asian Games.
Zhang Jun, the Chinese Badminton Association’s president, said: “We are delighted to work with the BWF and Hangzhou City Government to bring the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals to China.
“With its profound history and popularity here, badminton activities are ubiquitous in Hangzhou. It is an honour for the local government to be the host for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals. And all top players around the world are welcomed to gather in the city.”
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