Sudirman Cup, China Is Still King Of The Title

China, defending champion of the Sudirman Cup (doc. BWF).

JAKARTA China is currently still the king of the title collection at the Sudirman Cup, a mixed team tournament that will resume this month.

The 2025 edition of the Sudirman Cup will take place from 27 April to 4 May 2025 at the Fenghuang Gimnasium, Xiamen, China. A total of 16 countries are participants, including Indonesia.

This tournament is held every two years since it was first held in 1989 in Jakarta. At that time, Indonesia came out as champions after defeating South Korea in the final round, 3-2.

It was the only title that Indonesia collected in the history of the tournament. Indonesia's best achievement after that was six times as runners-up (1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, and 2007).

At first, the Sudirman Cup was held in the same place as the World Championships in the same year. However, the International Badminton Federation (BWF) then separated it in 2003.

This championship uses the name of former Indonesian badminton player, Dick Sudirman. Sudirman Cup match format consists of women's and men's singles numbers, women's and men's doubles, and mixed doubles.

No prize money is provided in this tournament, but each player will get additional points for the BWF ranking. In addition, getting this trophy is a separate prestige for the country concerned.

So far, only three countries have won the tournament. Apart from Indonesia and China, one other country that has brought home the Sudirman Cup title is South Korea.

China as the most successful country in this tournament has collected a total of 13 titles. They came as defending champions after the last edition of 2023 when they hosted South Korea in the final.

The Bamboo Curtain country received their first title in the 1995 edition of Switzerland. They then won again in three subsequent editions which took place in Scotland 1997, Denmark 1999, and Spain 2001.

South Korea then won their third title in its next edition in 2003 in the Netherlands. Two titles before that were obtained by South Korea in 1991 editions in Denmark and 1993 in the UK.

China then managed to continue their dominance in the Sudirman Cup with six consecutive titles from 2005 to 2015 before being broken by South Korea in 2017 which took place in Australia.

The title then moved back to the hands of China afterwards and is still being maintained today. China is still a favorite in this year's edition as their strengths are evenly distributed in all sectors.

In addition to the host status, at the 2025 Sudirman Cup, China was present as the first seed. They are in front of Indonesia who came as the second seed with a target to penetrate the final.

Meanwhile, Indonesia will start this year's journey from Group D with Denmark, England and India. The two best countries in the group will qualify for the quarter-finals.