Source:REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
[Saba Sports News] On February 9, the Badminton World Federation announced that starting in 2027, it will implement a series of measures to comprehensively upgrade the tournament system. This includes expanding the scale of tournaments, increasing prize money, and enhancing commercial appeal. The focus of this reform is on the Badminton World Federation World Tour. The World Tour will adopt a six-tier tournament system, consisting of: the BWF World Tour Finals, Super 1000 events, Super 750 events, Super 500 events, Super 300 events, and Super 100 events. This tournament system will include a total of 36 events, with increased prize money for each event, bringing the total annual prize money to a maximum of $26.9 million. Among these, the Super 1000 events will see a significant upgrade, with the Denmark Open moving from a Super 750 event to a Super 1000 event. Each tournament will last for 11 days, spanning two weekends, and the total prize money will increase from $1.45 million in 2026 to $2 million. A new competition format will also be adopted, with 48 players competing in singles, starting with group matches followed by knockout rounds; doubles will use a single-elimination format with 32 pairs. In terms of team events, the Sudirman Cup finals and the Thomas and Uber Cup finals will expand the number of participating teams and extend to a 12-day tournament. In my opinion, extending the tournament period will help achieve a more reasonable schedule and provide athletes with more ample recovery time between matches.