Viktor Axelsen and Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong’s extraordinary dominance this season was honoured as they won the BWF Player of the Year Awards in their respective categories.

Axelsen won BWF Male Player of the Year for sweeping nearly everything in his path. During the eligibility period from 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022, Axelsen won nine titles, including his second TotalEnergies BWF World Championships crown, which was achieved on the back of three consecutive HSBC BWF World Tour titles

The Chinese enjoyed a glorious winning streak of seven titles in succession, culminating with their third World Championships gold.

The BWF Female Player of the Year was won by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, who achieved the rare honour of winning back-to-back World Championships titles within a nine-month period. She also won two other titles – the YONEX All England Open 2022 and the DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2022. The other contenders were An Se Young and Tai Tzu Ying.

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto’s superb consistency through 2022, when they made eight finals and won four, saw them named the BWF Most Improved Players of the Year. The Indonesians won the honour ahead of HS Prannoy and Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong.

Japanese 21-year-old Kodai Naraoka, who had a meteoric rise in 2022, won the Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year. Naraoka made four finals and won the Vietnam Open.

Photo and information form  Badminton World Federation

由香港中華游樂會主辦的「第74屆全港網球公開賽」，經過六星期的緊湊賽局後今日終分出勝負，在香港中華游樂會完美落幕。繼早前黃澤林成為香港首位大滿貫雙冠軍，創下球壇歷史，「全港網球公開賽」延續這股網球熱潮，為全城網球愛好者帶來精彩比賽。今年賽事有近1,700人次報名參賽，男、女子單打公開錦標賽分別由王康傑和伍曼瑩捧走冠軍奬盃；黃浩渊、李欣翰勇奪男雙冠軍，女雙冠軍則是伍曼瑩和Sviatlana Pirazhenka。 

今日先後進行男子單打公開錦標賽，以及女子雙打公開錦標賽決賽，為本屆賽事迎來決勝高潮。男子單打公開錦標賽有上屆冠軍王康傑對戰黃俊鏗，二人打得難分難解。王康傑首盤取勝，黃俊鏗沉着應戰扳回一盤，最終王康傑以6-3、4-6、6-4的成績，成功衛冕男單冠軍，第四次成為「全港網球公開賽」男單冠軍。王康傑賽後表示：「很開心再次奪冠，今年比賽表現穩定，能在關鍵得分位保持冷靜應對。希望下年出戰杭州亞運能爭取佳績。」

香港中華游樂會主席林詩鍵先生表示：「香港網球精英今年在國際賽取得優異成績，帶動今年參與『全港網球公開賽』的市民更加投入比賽。今年賽事比歷屆更加精彩，可見本地球賽的水平正在逐漸提升。當中最令人興奮的是，今年18歲或以下的男子賽事有兩成的報名人次增長，反映賽事已經成為年輕球手的重要舞台。我們會繼續支持體育發展，展現球壇健康活力的一面。」

香港中華游樂會「第74屆全港網球公開賽」賽委會主席何艾文先生表示：「儘管近三年受疫情所限，本會仍盡力舉辦『全港網球公開賽』，讓本地健兒保持狀態。這項賽事在香港網球總會認可的三大本地比賽之中，是唯一設有14歲或以下組別的全港大賽，配合本會的『精英球員計劃』，大力支持培訓青年球員和推動體育發展。我們好高興在今年賽事上再次見到很多熟悉的面孔，亦出現了不少年輕新面孔，他們在球場上揮灑汗水，對賽事全力以赴。」

Photo by Vincent Chan