The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1989. It used to be held at the same venue for the World Championships in the same year until the International Badminton Federation (now the BWF) decided to split the two tournaments starting from 2003.[1] There are five matches in every Sudirman Cup tie which consists of men and women's singles, men and women's doubles and mixed doubles. The cup is named after Sudirman, a former Indonesian badminton player.[2] The current champion is China, which won its 13th title at the 2023 tournament in China.

Sudirman Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 Sudirman Cup
SportBadminton
Founded1989
No. of teams16 (finals)
CountriesBWF member nations
Most recent
champion(s)
 China (13th title)
Most titles China (13 titles)

There is no prize money in Sudirman Cup; players play for their respective countries and to earn BWF World Ranking points and national prestige.

Trophy

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The Sudirman Cup stands 80 cm high. It is made of 22 carat (92%) gold-plated solid silver and stands on an octagonal base made of jati wood (Java teak wood). The body of the Cup is in the form of a shuttlecock and is surmounted by a replica of the Borobudur Temple. The handles are in the shape of stamens, symbolising the seeds of badminton.

The Cup was made by Masterix Bandung Company at the price of US$15,000.

Format

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Until the 2021 edition, Sudirman Cup was an international competition that does not stage a qualification round. The competing teams are divided into 7 groups based on their performances. Only teams in Group 1 will have a chance to lift the trophy as the teams in other groups fight for promotion. Only six teams compete in Group 1, before it is increased to 8 in 2005 and further increased to 12 teams in 2011.[3] Originally, the teams who finish last in the group were relegated to the lower group for the next edition, except for the last place finishing team in the lowest group. The promotion-relegation system was last used in 2009, and teams competing are now grouped by world rankings.[4]

Starting from 2021 a new 16 team competition format is used, consisting of teams qualified from continental mixed team championships and mixed team ranking.[5] However, due to travel and border restrictions arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting the other planned continental team championships, the new format was only able to be fully implemented in 2023 edition.

Result

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Year Host Final Semi-finalists
Champions Score Runners-up
1989
Details
Jakarta, Indonesia  
Indonesia
3–2  
South Korea
 
China
 
Denmark
1991
Details
Copenhagen, Denmark  
South Korea
3–2  
Indonesia
 
China
 
Denmark
1993
Details
Birmingham, England  
South Korea
3–2  
Indonesia
 
China
 
Denmark
1995
Details
Lausanne, Switzerland  
China
3–1  
Indonesia
 
Denmark
 
South Korea
1997
Details
Glasgow, Scotland  
China
5–0  
South Korea
 
Denmark
 
Indonesia
1999
Details
Copenhagen, Denmark  
China
3–1  
Denmark
 
Indonesia
 
South Korea
2001
Details
Seville, Spain  
China
3–1  
Indonesia
 
Denmark
 
South Korea
2003
Details
Eindhoven, Netherlands  
South Korea
3–1  
China
 
Denmark
 
Indonesia
2005
Details
Beijing, China  
China
3–0  
Indonesia
 
Denmark
 
South Korea
2007
Details
Glasgow, Scotland  
China
3–0  
Indonesia
 
England
 
South Korea
2009
Details
Guangzhou, China  
China
3–0  
South Korea
 
Indonesia
 
Malaysia
2011
Details
Qingdao, China  
China
3–0  
Denmark
 
Indonesia
 
South Korea
2013
Details
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  
China
3–0  
South Korea
 
Denmark
 
Thailand
2015
Details
Dongguan, China  
China
3–0  
Japan
 
Indonesia
 
South Korea
2017
Details
Gold Coast, Australia  
South Korea
3–2  
China
 
Japan
 
Thailand
2019
Details
Nanning, China  
China
3–0  
Japan
 
Indonesia
 
Thailand
2021
Details
Vantaa, Finland  
China
3–1  
Japan
 
South Korea
 
Malaysia
2023
Details
Suzhou, China  
China
3–0  
South Korea
 
Malaysia
 
Japan
2025
Details
Xiamen, China

Successful national teams

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Indonesia initially won the tournament in 1989. Throughout the history of the tournament, eight countries have reached through to the semifinal round in all tournaments of Sudirman Cup: China, Denmark, England, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.

China is the most successful national team in the Sudirman Cup (13 victories), followed by Korea (4 victories) and Indonesia (1 victory). The tournament has never been won by a non-Asian country, Denmark is the only European country that came close to winning it, in 1999 and 2011.

Bold text denotes team was host country.

Team Champions Runners-up Semi-finalists Top 4 total
  China 13 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023) 2 (2003, 2017) 3 (1989, 1991, 1993) 18
  South Korea 4 (1991, 1993, 2003, 2017) 5 (1989, 1997, 2009, 2013, 2023) 8 (1995, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2021) 17
  Indonesia 1 (1989) 6 (1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2007) 7 (1997, 1999, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019) 14
  Japan 3 (2015, 2019, 2021) 2 (2017, 2023) 5
  Denmark 2 (1999, 2011) 9 (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2013) 11
  Thailand 3 (2013, 2017, 2019) 3
  Malaysia 3 (2009, 2021, 2023) 3
  England 1 (2007) 1

References

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  1. ^ "Korn Dabbaransi new IBF President". Utusan Online. 4 June 2001. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  2. ^ "THE HISTORIC JOURNEY OF THE SUDIRMAN CUP". BWF. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Tournament ABC". Sudirman Cup 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  4. ^ Sachetat, Raphaël. "Sudirman Cup to Change Format". Badzine. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  5. ^ "TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals" (PDF). Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
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