Reigning World No.1 and 2015 All England and World champion Carolina Marin pipped Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal to win the Female Player of the Year award from BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer in Dubai. Marin, who has won five World Superseries titles, held off competition from China’s Zhao Yunlei, Saina and China’s Bao Yixin.

China’s Chen Long retained the Male Player of the Year award that he won last year. His young compatriot Zheng Si Wei was acknowledged as the Most Promising Player of the Year. Korea’s Lee Sam Seop and Norway’s Helle Sofie Sagoy won the Para-Badminton Player of the Year awards in the male and female categories respectively.

The BWF Player of the Year awards were given at the Players’ Reception and Gala Dinner, held in honour of the assembled players, sponsors, officials and other guests to the Dubai Super series Finals.

Did You Know?

• Badminton’s history can be traced to British India in the 1800s, created by British military while stationed there.
• The International Badminton Federation (now known as the Badminton World Federation) was established in 1934, and today it is responsible for governing international badminton and for globally developing the sport.
• Badminton is an Olympic Sport played first in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
• Only 3 countries have won the Thomas Cup since it’s inception in 1948: Malaysia, Indonesia and China.
• Only 4 countries have won the Uber Cup since its inception in 1956: USA, Japan, China and Indonesia.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body badminton in India. It is based in Lucknow.