Sportskeeda Badminton Awards 2014: Players of the Year - Male

2014 has been an incredible year for Badminton. From the rise of Indian star Kidambi Srikanth to the provisional suspension of former World No. 1 Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei, this year has seen it all.A lot of youngsters challenged the Top 5 players on a regular basis.Here is our list of the Top 5 male shuttlers of the year 2014.

#5 HANS-Kristian Vittinghus

28-year old Danish shuttler, who recently made it to the championship match of the BWF Superseries finals in Dubai is currently ranked 10th in the world. Starting the year with a world ranking of 20, Hans burst into the International arena after finishing as the runner-up in German Open Grand Prix Gold tournament in March.

Even though he did not won any major title this year, his performance at the Grand Prix Gold and Superseries tournament was quite good.

Summary

BWF Destination World Superseries Finals - RUNNER-UP

Yonex Belgian Open International Challenge - WINNER

Yonex German Open Grand Prix Gold – RUNNER-UP

#4 Son Wan Ho

Wan Ho Son could not have asked for a better year as he reached the top-5 of the world rankings for the first time in his career. Son, who won the Taipei Open last year started the year 2014 with a world ranking of 21.

24 year old Korean, who is currently ranked No. 5 reached the last four of the Yonex All Englad in March and also won the Gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games in September.

His brilliant form continued as he clinched the Hong Kong Open Superseries title in November. Son Wan Ho played a tactically astute game against the current World No. 1 Chen Long of China in the final and emerged the unlikely winner.

Summary

Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open Superseries - WINNER

Asian Games- GOLD MEDALLIST

Yonex Denmark Open Superseries Premier- RUNNER-UP

Yonex All England Open – SEMIFINALIST

#3 Chou Tien Chen

Star Taipei shuttler Chou Tien Chen had a remarkable season on court in 2014. Starting the year with a world ranking of 27, this 24 year old shuttler has gone up 20 places and is currently ranked No. 7 in the latest rankings released by Badminton World Federation.

He came into limelight when he won his first BWF title defeating fifth seeded Chinese ace Zhengming Wang in the final of Yonex French Open Superseries in October. Unseeded in that tournament, Chou stunned the then World No. 2 Danish player Jan O Jorgensen in the opener.

Chou caused a huge upset in the second round of China Open Superseries Premier as he stunned the fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the quarterfnals. However, he lost to the Indian Badminton star Kidambi Srikanth in the semifinals.

Summary

Yonex French Open Superseries - WINNER

Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold - WINNER

Yonex US Open Grand Prix Gold - RUNNER-UP

China Open Superseries Premier - SEMIFINALS

#2 Kidambi Srikanth

What an incredible year it has been for the Indian star. From defeating Lin Dan to reaching semis of Hong Kong Open and BWF Superseries finals, it has been an astonishing performance from the 21-year old Guntur born player. Srikanth has show tremendous improvement this year as has gone up 43 places. Srikanth, who was ranked 47 in the first week of January is now ranked fourth in the latest BWF World Rankings.

Srikanth’s best performance came in November when he stunned the former World No. 1 Chinese star Lin Dan in the finals of Thaihot China Open Superseries Premier thus becoming the first Indian ever to win a Super Series Premier Men's title.

He also finshed up as the runner-up in the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold tournament in January.

Summary

Thaihot China Open Superseries Premier - WINNER

BWF Destination World Superseries Finals - SEMIFINALIST

Yonex Hong Kong Open Superseries - SEMIFINALIST

Indian Open Grand Prix Gold – RUNNER-UP

#1 Chen Long

Reigning World Champion and former World Junior Champion Chen Long had an incredible year as he not only won the World Championships title, but also became the World No. 1 in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World rankings after replacing Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei.

The 32-year-old Malaysian star had held the No. 1 ranking for the last six years, losing only once to two time Olympic Champion and five time World Champion Lin Dan for a few weeks in 2012. He was suspended indefinitely by the BWF on 11th November after he failed a doping test at the World Championships at Copenhagen, Denmark, on August 30.

For the 13 tournaments he played in the year 2014, he made it to the finals in nine of them. The 25-year old Chinese ace started the year with a bang as he won the Korea Open Superseries Premier title in January. He continued his good form in the All-England Open too as he finished as the runner-up before going down to Lee Chong Wei in the final.

Chen Long recently defeated Hans Kristian Vittinghus in the championship match of the BWF Superseries finals in Dubai.

Summary

BWF Destination World Superseries Finals- WINNER

Yonex Denmark Open Superseries Premier- WINNER

BWF World Championships- WINNER

Victor Korea Open- WINNER

Hong Kong Open Superseries - RUNNER-UP

Yonex Sunrise India Open - RUNNER-UP

Asian Games(men’s singles) – RUNNER-UP

Yonex All England Open – RUNNER-UP