Kochi to host World Senior Badminton Championships in 2017

The Junior Championships were awarded to Bilbao in Spain and in Yogyakarta in Indonesia

The Indian coastal city of Kochi will play host to the World Senior Badminton Championships in 2017, the sport’s governing body Badminton World Federation( BWF) announced on Friday.

The Badminton Association of India(BAI), who had bid for hosting the tournament in May last year, were clearly delighted in securing the bid and the vice-president of the association S Muralidharan assured that "all who come in 2017 will have sweet memories from Cochin".

All 5 categories of the sport are played in the age category of +35,+40, +45+50,+55,+60,+65 and +70 during the competition.

"The last World Seniors attracted 900 competitors, ranging in age from mid-30s to over 70, and it's growing all the time. At the other end of the spectrum, we have our budding stars of tomorrow who are already proving how dynamic and competitive they are on court. Many of today's top players were first seen on the junior stage and we want the world to see our youth as they start to flourish,” President of the BWF, Poul-Erik Hoyer said.

Want to continue spreading the sport to different parts of the world: Erik-Hoyer

The BWF also awarded the 2016 and 2017 editions of World Junior Championships to Bilbao, Spain, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia respectively and speaking about the decision, he further added that the aim of the governing body is to spread the sport to as many countries as possible.

"We want to continue spreading badminton globally and today has given us another opportunity to do so by choosing three different locations for two of our increasingly popular events," he said.