Top 5 badminton women’s singles players of 2016

#2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)

Standing at a diminutive 5’ 2”, Akane Yamaguchi’s immense talent is good enough to lord it over anyone in the game. Singled out by many as a future World No. 1, the prodigious 19-year-old made rapid strides in 2016.

The former two-time junior world champion did not start the season well but thrived as the year progressed. Post the Rio Olympics, she went on a tear, giving a full display of her vast potential. She first made it to the semi-finals of the Japan Open Superseries, then took it further by winning back-to-back Superseries titles at the Korea Open and the Denmark Open. Her run at Denmark was especially stunning where she got the better of both the current and the former World No. 1s Tai Tzu Ying and Carolina Marin.

That was a remarkable achievement which made her just the third non-Chinese woman to triumph in Superseries tournaments in consecutive weeks, joining Tai and the Danish great Tine Baun.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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Edited by Staff Editor