The Level 5 tournaments on the BWF World Tour circuit, the Super 300, provide a great opportunity for lower-ranked badminton players. They sharpen their skills while competing against their compatriots and take strides on the BWF World Rankings.
Plus, these competitions also provide a decent prize pool of US$240,000, which is another motivating factor for the participants. And there are 11 tournaments that fall under the Super 300 level, which are sufficient for any player to display their talent on the international stage.
So, in this article, we’ll look at each of the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournaments organised in badminton.
1. German Open
Among the initial inductees of the Super 300 level, the German Open has been taking place since 1955. The country’s governing body, Deutscher Badminton Verband (DBV), organises the badminton event.
Over the years, the tournament has seen participation from top shuttlers like Lin Dan, Park Joo-bong, and Gao Ling. In fact, Dan is the joint-most successful player in the German Open, having won the singles titles six times.
Among Indias, Arvind Bhat has won the event once in the men’s singles category in 2014. The German Open takes place in the February-March window every year.
2. Hylo Open
The Hylo Open is another Super 300 event held in Germany every year. This tournament, though, started in 1988 and takes place in the October-November window every year.
Initially, it was part of the Super 100 level from 2018 to 2020 before the Badminton World Federation (BWF) upgraded it to the Super 300 level in 2022. Germany’s Michael Keck (mixed doubles) and Huaiwen Xu (women’s singles) have won five titles each.
From India, the pairs of Valiyaveetil Diju-Jwala Gutta (mixed doubles – 2008) and Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas (men’s doubles – 2009) have found success, while Subhankar Dey (2018) and Lakshya Sen (2019) won the men’s singles titles.
3. Korea Masters
The Korea Masters is the next tournament on the list. Established in 2007, South Korea hosts the event in November every year.
The Korea Masters was part of the Grand Prix Gold events before the BWF added it to the Super 300 level in 2018. South Korean women’s doubles players Jung Kyung-eun and Chang Ye-na have clinched the title five times each.
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4. Macau Open
The Macau Open takes place in September every year on the BWF World Tour circuit. Macau has been hosting the event since 2002, with the BWF categorising under the Grand Prix Gold between 2007 and 2017 before its addition to the Super 300 level in 2018.
India’s finest women’s shuttler PV Sindhu dominated in the singles category for three straight years from 2013 to 2015, winning the title each time.
5. Orléans Masters
The Orléans Masters is the other tournament the BWF upgraded from the Super 100 to the Super 300. This tournament has been taking place since 1994, though it wasn’t until 2012 that the BWF sanctioned it as an international event.
Slotted in March every year, the Bulgarian siblings Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva have three titles in the women’s doubles category, while Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen has done so in the mixed category.
Among Indians, Anand Pawar and Priyanshu Rajawat have won the Orléans Masters once each in the men’s singles disciplines.
6. Spain Masters
Another European competition on the list, the Spain Masters, started along with the BWF’s new tournament structure in 2018.
The BWF included the Spanish event to the Super 300 level immediately, while it takes place in March every year. However, Spain won’t host the event in 2025.
The Danish badminton superstar Viktor Axelsen and the Indonesian mixed doubles pair of Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Mentari have won the Spain Masters twice each.
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7. Swiss Open
The mesmerising Switzerland hosts the Swiss Open in March every year, a few days before the Spain Masters. It’s a seven-decade-old tournament, having started in 1955.
The Swiss Open served as a Super Series from 2007 to 2010 before the BWF downgraded to the Grand Prix Gold event in 2011. From 2018 onwards, it has been part of the Super 300 level.
Former women’s Swiss shuttler Liselotte Blumer has clinched the event most times, having won six singles titles. Saina Nehwal (2011 & 2012), Srikanth Kidambi (2015), Prannoy Kumar (2016), Sameer Verma (2018), PV Sindhu (2022), and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (2023) have shone at the Swiss Open.
8. Syed Modi International
India’s very own badminton tournament, the Syed Modi International, is part of the Super 300 level. The event started in 2009 under the Grand Prix level before its elevation to the Grand Prix Gold category in 2011.
Hosted in Lucknow, the Syed Modi International closes out the BWF World Tour Super 300 in November-December every year. Many Asian shuttlers have left a mark in the tournament, including those from India.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu have clinched the women’s singles titles three times each in the Syed Modi International tournament.
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9. Taipei Open
The Taipei Open started back in 1980 in Taiwan. Since then, it has been a regular affair, taking place in September every year.
Tai Tzu-ying, one of the finest Taiwanese women’s shuttlers, has won the women’s singles titles five times. Saina Nehwal (2008) and the mixed duo of Valiyaveetil Diju-Jwala Gutta (2009) have won the event once each.
10. Thailand Masters
The Thailand Masters has an interesting storyline behind its inception. Thailand started this badminton tournament to honour the Thai Royal Family’s princess Sirivannavari, who is a former shuttler.
The tournament kicked off in 2016, with the BWF classifying it under the Super 300 level two years later. The Thailand Masters opens the Super 300 level every year as the event takes place in the January-February window.
11. US Open
Don’t get confused with the tennis Grand Slam tournament! Badminton also has its own US Open, although it doesn’t carry the same significance.
It’s been seven decades that the US Open has been taking place, often drawing top-ranked shuttlers. The US hosts the event in June every year.
Former English-American women’s player Judy Devlin won the most titles in the US Open, clinching 12 and 11 in singles and doubles categories, respectively. Among Indians, HS Prannoy has bagged a men’s singles title in 2017.
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