After a brief interval of about a fortnight, the action returns to BWF World Tour with the Super 750 Denmark Open getting underway on October 15. Due to its elevated position among the events of the Tour calendar, most of the leading names will be in running for the title, both in men's and women's singles.
With the World Championships over, the focus is now firmly on the World Tour Finals which will conclude this year's badminton action. Some players need big performances to rise in the World Tour standings in order to qualify for the season finale while some are looking to regain their lost form.
Men's singles
The man lording over men's singles badminton currently, Kento Momota, would be back on the court. In his road to victory at the Korean Open, the last World Tour event, the World Champion did look a little bit jaded at times. However, he always seems to have a couple of gears of performance up his sleeve which he uses when the match gets close.
He would face good competition from the two Indonesian shuttlers in the fray – Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie. The former has been the one player in the BWF circuit who has given a tough fight to Momota in recent times. In fact, it was Ginting who knocked out the World Champion from the Asian Games last year and paved the way for Christie to win gold.
The second-seed, Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, has been the ultimate bridesmaid in the badminton world. Often occupying top rankings, he has been devoid of a major title in the last couple of years.
This will be a very important tournament for China's Shi Yu Qi as well. The 2018 All England Champion had emerged as a major contender for the no one spot in the rankings late last year and had even recorded some major victories over Momota. But injuries halted his momentum and since coming back, he hasn't regained his old form.
The local crowd would be firmly behind Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen. The former World Champion Axelsen also has had a lean patch this year while Antonsen has made steady progress. With the vociferous support of home fans, he may pose a threat to established names.
The reigning Olympic champion Chen Long, as well as the legendary Lin Dan, are also taking part. Both players have been out of form for a long time. Except for one World Tour event earlier this year, their records bear nothing to write home about.
Without any serious injury intervening, Momota is likely to walk away with this title too. But do beware of Ginting and the Danes.
Women's singles
After a long time, Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei enters a tournament as not the favourite. The lady who was nearly unbeatable last year has suffered some big losses in recent times. She seems to have lost some of that majestic touch that characterised her game previously.
China, after suffering a decline in this category, is back with a bang through Chen Yu Fei and HE Bing Jiao. The latter recently won the Korea Open, thereby proclaiming herself as belonging to the elite class in women's badminton. Chen, though, has also won some big titles in the last year and hence is seeded second.
The lady holding the top ranking at the moment, Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon has been, despite what her ranking suggests, drifting along for some time. It's been six years since she won the World Championship but the performances in the last few years have been rather underwhelming. Far from becoming the great player she looked like, Intanon is struggling to match her leading opponents.
Both the current Olympic champion and the reigning world champion are taking part. PV Sindhu lost her form after winning the World Championship while Marin's comeback was perfect as she won the China Open Super 1000 event with great aplomb.
The two Japanese girls – Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara are seeded one and three respectively. The last few tournaments haven't been good for these two. Now is an opportunity for both to recapture their form.
Overall, with all the top names in contention, the women's singles promises to be a delicious contest.
