The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has awarded the hosting rights for forthcoming flagship events to Spain, Indonesia and India.
The Spanish city of Bilbao will stage the 2016 World Junior Championships, with Yogyakarta, Indonesia – a candidate alongside Bilbao for 2016 – awarded the 2017 edition. This means the Junior Championships will take place on three different continents in as many years, with Lima, Peru hosting the 2015 tournament.
The southern Indian port city of Cochin will host the World Senior Championships in 2017. This year’s tournament takes place in Helsingborg, Sweden in late September. “We want to continue spreading badminton globally and today has given us another opportunity to do so by choosing three different locations for two of our increasingly popular events,” BWF president Poul-Erik Høyer said.
On the decision to reward Yogyakarta despite it missing out on the 2016 World Junior Championship, Høyer added: “Usually when we have these situations there can only be one winner – but today we are pleased to announce we have two winners with whom the Council was equally impressed.
“Both hosts will provide a compelling and culturally-interesting experience for the young players of the world and this kind of exposure will be excellent for our future stars; travelling to foreign countries and regions and playing in front different crowds and, of course, making new friends in the badminton fraternity.”
