Jayce
The 2024 China Badminton Open will kick off on September 17, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, in Changzhou, Jiangsu. From this event onwards, the BWF will officially increase the world ranking points for the tournament, aligning them with the China Open’s Super 1000 status. The prize pool for the China Open is a staggering $2 million, far exceeding other tournaments of the same level. What excites Chinese fans even more is that Team China will be fielding most of its main players, including the highly popular Olympic men’s doubles silver medalists, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, who will return to the court after missing three post-Olympic events. China will also bring its strongest team across all categories.
This year’s China Badminton Open will be the first event under the BWF’s revamped points system. The new system aims to ensure a fairer relationship between prize money and ranking points for Super 1000 events. The four top-tier tournaments in the BWF World Tour include the Malaysia Open in January, the All England Open in March, the Indonesia Open in June, and the China Badminton Open in September. The BWF’s minimum prize money for Super 1000 tournaments is set at $1.3 million, but the China Open’s prize pool is a whopping $2 million, exceeding the standard by $700,000. This makes it the second highest-paying badminton tour event in the world, behind only the BWF World Tour Finals, which offers $2.5 million. The singles champion at the China Open will receive $140,000, while the doubles champions will earn $148,000, making it a highly lucrative competition.
In terms of ranking points, under the new system, the China Open champions will earn 13,500 points (up from 12,000), while runners-up will receive 11,500 points (up from 10,200). Semifinalists will get 9,500 points (up from 8,400), and quarterfinalists will earn 7,400 points (up from 6,600). This means that players who reach the semifinals at the China Open will accumulate more points than the champions of Super 500 events (9,200 points) and the runners-up of Super 750 tournaments (9,350 points). Even reaching the quarterfinals at the China Open will grant players more points than winning a Super 300 event (7,000 points), making this event highly attractive for players.
The China Open will also mark the first time Team China competes with a full squad following the Paris Olympics. As the host nation, with high ranking points and a significant prize pool, it’s a must-attend event for China’s top players. Originally scheduled to compete in the Hong Kong Open, men’s singles stars Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng have withdrawn to focus on the China Open. Men’s doubles duo and Olympic silver medalists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang will also make their comeback at the China Open after a series of off-court activities. Their participation is sure to draw significant attention from fans, given their soaring popularity after the Paris Olympics.
Paris Olympic mixed doubles champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong will headline the mixed doubles competition, while China’s No. 2 women’s doubles pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning will join forces once again. Newly crowned Olympic women’s doubles champion Jia Yifan will pair with Zheng Yu in this tournament.
