BWF PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2009 - Chong Wei, Yihan win honours
News 9:56 AM
Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and China’s Wang Yihan were crowned Badminton World Federation (BWF) Male and Female Player of the Year 2009 respectively at a local hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday.
The duo, both ranked World No 1 in the men’s singles and women’s singles ranking have had an outstanding year in 2009 winning a string of titles but more importantly showed remarkable consistency to win the awards. 
Both players were awarded the trophy at a welcome dinner held in conjunction with the Proton-BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2010 in Kuala Lumpur. The Finals begin on Sunday, 9 May.
“The BWF decided on Chong Wei and Yihan for their consistency and achievements in 2009. Chong Wei maintained his No 1 position in the world rankings throughout the year while Yihan climbed her way to the top from a No 18 spot in the beginning of the year,” said Thomas Lund, BWF Chief Operating Officer.
“Deservingly, they have been rewarded for their achievements.”
National Sports Council of Malaysia director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong presented Chong Wei with the award while Lund presented the award to Yihan.
Chong Wei, 28, became the World No 1 on Aug 21, 2008, a position which he has jealously guarded for the past 90 weeks.
He started the year 2009 by winning his fifth Malaysian Open title and followed that up with wins at the Swiss Open, Indonesia Open and Hong Kong Open Super Series.
He was also a runner-up in South Korea and the All England Championships and ended the year by winning the Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Super Series Finals, a tournament featuring the top 8 ranked players in the Super Series ranking, in Johor Baru, Malaysia last December.
Yihan, a former world junior champion in 2006, started 2009 with a world ranking of 18.
An amazing run in March saw her winning the back to back All England and Swiss Open titles which propelled her to a top-10 ranking in April.
Born in Shanghai on 18 January 1988, she firmly established her place at the summit of the women’s singles ranking after another great run that saw her winning the Japan Open, French Open and a runner-up finish at the Denmark Open. She also took the honours in Hong Kong.
Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon was also named BWF Most Promising Player in 2009 for the Eddie Choong trophy.
Ratchanok, from Thailand, won the 2009 World Junior title at the age of 14 and also bagged a silver medal in the South East Asian Games held in her home country.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 9:56 AM.
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