Guangzhou and Copenhagen awarded BWF World Championships hosting rights

BWF Media Release, Dec 09, 2011: BWF World Championships hosting rights, The prestigious biennial BWF World Championships will return to China and Denmark after a respective 26-year and 15-year long wait.

Following the conclusion of the BWF Council Meeting in New Zealand’s Queenstown this afternoon, results for the host cities election of the 2013 and 2014 World Championships, as well as, the 2013 Sudirman Cup are now confirmed.

Guangzhou (China) and Copenhagen (Denmark) have been awarded the hosting rights for the 2013 and 2014 BWF World Championships respectively. While Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was awarded the 2013 Sudirman Cup hosting rights.

The 2013 BWF World Championships had received strong bids from Macau (China SAR), Guangzhou and Copenhagen. Guangzhou did not contest for the 2014 edition, while Macau and Copenhagen submitted a twin-bid. Kuala Lumpur was the only city to have made a bid presentation for the 2013 Sudirman Cup in Queenstown.

All four cities presented their bids to the BWF Council on Thursday, 8 December, 2011. This will be Copenhagen’s fourth time hosting the BWF World Championships, while Guangzhou and Kuala Lumpur will have their maiden experience hosting the respective events. Though, Guangzhou had hosted the 2009 Sudirman Cup, and Kuala Lumpur was the 2007 World Championships host.

“This was perhaps one of the most closely contested World Championships host city bids we’ve ever had”, said BWF President Dr Kang Young Joong, “and I’m delighted to see the strong bids put forward by these powerhouses of the sport.” Dr Kang added: “Not only are they capable of developing extraordinary talent for the sport but they have demonstrated that they are equally capable of putting together a world class event.

And this is something the sport can be very proud of.” Guangzhou and Copenhagen are two of the world’s most progressive modern cities, and their delight of being awarded the World Championships hosting rights were apparent. The CEO of Badminton Denmark, Charlotte Malmroes, remarked: “The world’s best players are arriving in Copenhagen and on behalf of Badminton Denmark I am very proud to get the opportunity of staging such a great event. To play on home ground is the best possible platform for our players to win the prestigious World Championships medals.”