Momota Kento of Japan returns to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei during the men's singles final at the Fuzhou China Open 2019 in Fuzhou on Nov. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Momota Kento of Japan and Chen Yufei of China are leading the top shuttlers qualified for the upcoming Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, according to the BWF on Monday.
Top eight players and pairs for each category, who qualified for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, will be in Guangzhou, China for the tournament that begins on December 11, competing for a total prize fund of 1.5 million U.S. dollars.
The Finals features the top eight players and pairs who have qualified throughout the year-long World Tours competition, with the current world champions gaining automatic entry.
Men's singles world no. 1 Momota qualified as the top World Tour Ranking player and reigning world champion. He will be seeking his second Finals trophy after winning the Dubai World Superseries Finals in 2015.
Shi Yuqi of China competes during the men's singles final against Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand at the 2019 Macau Open badminton tournament in Macau on Nov. 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai)
China's Shi Yuqi, who defeated Momota in Guangzhou a year ago, failed to qualify for this year's finals.
Other defending champions including Pusarla V. Sindhu in women's singles, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen of China in men's doubles and their teammates Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping in mixed doubles are back at another shot at the Finals.
Sindhu was assured of her spot despite being in 15th place as one spot in each category is reserved for the current world champions. But she will expect a fierce challenge from other shuttlers, led by China's Chen Yuwei who has an astonishing year of performance so far.
Chen Yufei of China reacts during the women's singles final match against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan at the Fuzhou China Open 2019 in Fuzhou on Nov. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/He Canling)
Due to the rule that a maximum of two players/pairs from each member association can qualify, last year's women's doubles champions and Rio 2016 gold medalists, Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi have missed out as they are the third-ranked Japanese pair in the top eight.
Their compatriots Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota topped the rankings, followed by world champions Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara. But China's Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan will seek to defend their newly gained world No. 1 ranking at home soil. ■
