To earn the right to compete for a share of the US$ 1 million prize pool from 14-18 December at the Hamdan Sports Complex, players must finish in the top eight at the end of the 12-event Metlife Superseries.
With the Olympic gold medallists all guaranteed a wildcard for Dubai (provided they are ranked in the top 20 in the world) the battle is on for the remaining seven qualification places in each of the men’s and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories.
The new rankings released last week following the Denmark Open and French Open played in October heralded the emergence of some exciting new contenders to fill the void left by the post-Olympic retirements of several top players.
The pressure is now on all players to produce their best performances in the last two events, the China Open and the Hong Kong Open, to ensure they can secure a ticket to Dubai.
In the men’s singles, China’s Olympic and world champion Chen Long will be given a wildcard to appear in Dubai despite currently being ranked 20th having elected not to compete since Rio. Korea’s Son Won Ho has yet to win a title in 2016, but his appearances in three Superseries finals this year sees him leading the rankings, ahead of China’s Tian Houwei.
China’s Tian Houwei is on a winning trajectory taking him towards the finals in Dubai. Will we see him at @HamdanSC next month? pic.twitter.com/9wmMbX7szQ
— DubaiWorldSSFinals (@BWFDubaiFinals) November 8, 2016
After finishing runner-up in the Denmark Open, Son Wan Ho said: “My goal is to try to raise my ranking in the remaining three Superseries events so I can take part in the Dubai finals. It’s a wonderful place to go at the end of the year and I look forward to playing there again.”
Three Danes are currently in the top ten, with Jan O Jorgensen in third, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in fourth and Victor Axelsen in seventh. But with each country only able to qualify two players in each category, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and last year’s Superseries runner-up Axelsen has his work cut out to overtake at least one of his team-mates to earn himself a place in Dubai.
Malaysia’s legendary Lee Chong Wei is sitting in fifth with three titles under his belt this year, with Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus in sixth. In eighth is Germany’s Marc Zwiebler, who is in the hunt to be the first German to compete in the men’s singles in a Superseries finals.
After a blistering start to the season when she took three Superseries titles in succession, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon has struggled to find form after the Olympics, but still holds third place in the women’s singles race. Chinese Taipei’s 2014 Superseries winner Tai Tzu Ying has taken the lead, with Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in second after taking titles in both Korea and Denmark.
Tai Tzu Ying said: “I loved winning the Dubai title in 2014 and I really hope I can do it again this year. I should qualify based on my ranking now but I will continue working hard in the rest of tournaments to make sure I get there.”
While many thought that the retirement of China’s top players Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian and injury to Li Xuerui would leave a void in the women’s competition, the new guard of Chinese youngsters Sun Yu and He Bingjiao have grabbed the opportunity to shine, and now sit in fourth and fifth place respectively in the rankings.
Nineteen-year-old He Bingjiao’s victories in the Japan Open and French Open saw her jump seven places and she is now firmly in contention to fly the flag for China in Dubai.
India’s Saina Nehwal has been recovering from a knee injury and hasn’t played since Rio. She is currently ranked eighth place but with Carolina Marin (currently in tenth), earning an Olympic wildcard, Nehwal will have to pull out all the stops when she returns to competition in the upcoming China Open to secure her place in the Superseries Finals.
The men’s doubles field sees Malaysia’s Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong holding a comfortable lead over Japan’s Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
Last year’s Superseries winners Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, currently in eighth place, look likely to fall victim to the resurgence of the Indonesian men’s doubles teams with Angga Pratama/Ricky Kuranda Suwardi and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo holding third and fourth places, and filling their quota of a maximum two places per country.
In a surprise move, Ahsan and Setiawan seemed to seal their fate by pairing with different partners at the French Open.
The women’s doubles is the only category which has a team dominating the competition, with Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi taking four titles, two runner-up placings and Olympic gold so far this year, giving them the highest points among all the leaders in the five categories. With 75,310 points, they are over 23,000 points clear of second-placed Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan of Korea, with Singapore Open champions Nitya Meheswari/Greysia Polii of Indonesia in third.
Can the 19 years old Chinese phenomenon, HE Bingjiao, secure her spot in #DWSF2016? #BadmintonDubai pic.twitter.com/skKd8nieWY
— DubaiWorldSSFinals (@BWFDubaiFinals) November 6, 2016
The mixed doubles is led by Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na ahead of China’s Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong. Denmark Open winners Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen are at number three, with the young Chinese pair of Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen now in fourth place following their brilliant form in recent Superseries events. The Chinese, winners in Japan and runners-up in Australia, Korea and Denmark, sit ahead of England’s 2015 Superseries winners Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock in fifth.
The Metlife Superseries continues with the Thaihot China Open on 15-20 November, with the final event, the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on 22-27 November.
