BWF increases prize money for World Tour Finals 2023-2026

The Badminton World Federation (BWF), on Wednesday, committed an enormous USD11.5 million in prize money to its season-ending World Tour Finals over the next four years, making it the richest badminton tournament in the world.

According to BWF, the total prize pool for this year and next year’s World Tour Finals will be USD2.5 million each while USD3 million will be awarded to 2025 edition winners followed by USD3.5 million in the 2026 edition.

At the 2022 edition of the Finals, a total of USD 1.5 million was awarded to all 2022 edition winners in Nimibutr Arena, Bangkok.

The World Tour Finals is the most prestigious badminton tournament, with only top players and pairs from each of the five disciplines qualifying for the year-ending event.

BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said the prize money injection is a significant boost for the entire badminton community.

“We are delighted to be able to confirm USD 11.5 million over the next four years for what already is our signature finale to the HSBC BWF World Tour,” Lund said in a statement.

“This represents an overall greater commitment to our players and contributes to an enhanced world-class sports product that we seek.

“We are excited by the prospect of making Hangzhou the new home of the season-ending finals and can’t wait to see the world’s top stars fight it out for ultimate glory.”

The BWF World Tour Finals 2023 will be played at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium from 13-17 December.

The top 8 qualifiers from the Race To Finals rankings will be confirmed following the China Masters 2023.

At the moment, no Indian shuttler is in the race for a spot in the BWF World Tour Finals, as Lakshya Sen is ranked 16th in the men's singles while HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth are ranked 17th and 23rd respectively.

In women's singles, PV Sindhu is ranked 15th in the race and is far from the top eight qualifiers.

The closest to the qualification are the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are ranked 13th in the rankings. But with injury issues and a dip in form, their chances of qualifying for the finals are slim.