After gruelling in the BWF World Tour series over a year, the most consistent shuttlers make it to the BWF World Tour Finals. It’s an intense tournament held at the end of a year, wrapping up the season.
In our previous article, we saw the qualification process for the finals. And in this piece, we’ll look at the format, participants, prize money, and ranking points of the BWF World Tour Finals.
So how many players participate in the BWF World Tour Finals?
A total of eight players/pairs feature in each of the disciplines of the BWF World Tour Finals. That means eight players each make it to the men’s and women’s singles categories, while eight pairs each qualify for the men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles events.
If you want to know how these players/pairs qualify for the year-end competition, read our detailed guide below.
Also Read | How do Players Qualify for BWF World Tour Finals?
How does the BWF World Tour Finals format work?
So once the BWF locks in the eight participants in each discipline, they club them into two groups of four players/pairs each. The BWF World Tour Finals has a round-robin stage in place before the knockouts kick-off.
As the finals get underway, each player/pair clashes against the other group members once. Each player/pair features in three matches, with every match decided on the best of three sets.
After the end of the group stage, the top two players/pairs with the most points from both groups make it to the semi-finals. If two or more players/pairs have the same number of points, then the BWF uses a tiebreaker.
The governing body first checks the head-to-head record of the concerned players/pairs, followed by the difference in games and points won and lost.
If none of the criteria helps determine the semi-finalists, then the BWF carries a draw to decide their rankings.
The first semi-final pits the Group A topper against the Group B runners-up, while the second semi-final sees the Group B winner take on the Group A runners-up. Then the final takes place, with the winners of both semi-finals battling it out for the title.
What is the prize money in the BWF World Tour Finals?
The BWF World Tour Finals provides the highest prize money across all major badminton tournaments. The tournament distributes a whopping US$2,500,000 among the winners, runner-ups, and other participants.
Here’s the breakdown of the prize money according to the players/pairs positions in the tournament:
| Place | Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | Mixed Doubles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | $200,000 | $200,000 | $210,000 | $210,000 | $210,000 |
| Runners-up | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Semi-finalists | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 3rd in Group | $27,500 | $27,500 | $32,500 | $32,500 | $32,500 |
| 4th in Group | $15,000 | $15,000 | $17,500 | $17,500 | $17,500 |
Do players earn ranking points in the BWF World Tour Finals?
The answer is yes. Apart from the hefty prize money, shuttlers also bag crucial ranking points to help improve their BWF World Rankings.
The year-ender offers the second-most points after the BWF World Championships. The winners in all categories earn 14,000 points, while runners-up get 12,000 points. Those who lost in the semis bag 10,000 points, while the third and fourth-placed players/pairs receive 8,900 and 7,800 points, respectively.
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