The BWF World Tour Finals is a prestigious annual badminton tournament. It pits the eight best players and pairs against each other in December every year after a rigorous BWF World Tour season.
To compete in the finals, a shuttler needs to maintain sheer consistency throughout the season. A handful of players showcased their persistence by making it to the finals year after year.
On that note, we’ll look at the top five players/pairs with the most appearances in the BWF World Tour Finals.
5. Viktor Axelsen | Denmark
Viktor Axelsen is among the finest shuttlers in the current era. The Danish shuttle has featured in five World Tour Finals.
Axelsen failed to qualify for the first edition held in 2018, but he made it to the tournament on the bounce in the next five editions.
Out of his five appearances, Axelsen managed to win the finals in three consecutive years between 2021 and 2023. Thus far, he is the most successful men’s singles player in the year-end competition.
4. Tai Tzu-ying | Chinese Taipei
Tai Tzu-ying is another player to make five appearances in the BWF World Tour Finals. The Chinese Taipei shuttler first qualified for the tournament in its inaugural edition in 2018.
She returned for the next two editions before missing out on qualification for the 2021 finals. Tzu-ying then featured in the next two year-enders, while adding two women’s singles titles in 2020 and 2023.
3. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting | Indonesia
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting has been a consistent performer in the World Tour series. The Indonesian badminton player has featured in the year-end finals five times.
His trajectory is also similar to that of Tai Tzu-ying. Ginting missed the 2021 World Tour Finals after failing to make the top eight.
Despite his five appearances, Ginting hasn’t been able to get his hands on the titles even once, ending up as runners-up twice.
2. Jongkolphan Kititharakul & Rawinda Prajongjai | Thailand
This Thailand women’s doubles duo is one of the two pairs that qualified for the first six editions of the BWF World Tour Finals. They entered the competition from 2018 to 2023.
However, Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai couldn’t make it to the summit clash in each of their appearances. They have bowed out of the group stage five times while making a lone semi-final appearance in 2020.
1. Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taettaranachai | Thailand
This Thai mixed doubles pair has imitated their fellow women’s pair to make it to the first six editions. The pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taettaranachai had lacklustre outings in the first two finals, exiting after the group stage.
But they bounced back in the next three seasons, emerging as winners in 2020 and 2021 before losing the 2022 summit clash against the Chinese pair of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong.
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