An Olympic silver medallist, two former world No.1s in Men’s Doubles and a former European Men’s Singles champion are among nine nominees to fill four positions on the BWF Athletes’ Commission.
Following the close of nominations on 27 March, three women and six men will stand for election to the body which represents players within the Badminton World Federation.
They are (in alphabetical order of first name):
1.Akville Stapusaityte – LITHUANIA
2.Edwin Ekiring – UGANDA
3.Koo Kien Keat – MALAYSIA
4.Kirsty Gilmour – SCOTLAND
5.Luis Ramon Garrido Esquivel – MEXICO
6.Marc Zwiebler – GERMANY
7.Nikhar Garg - INDIA
8.Pusarla V Sindhu – INDIA
9.Yoo Yeon Seong – KOREA
Three persons will be elected to replace outgoing members of the BWF Athletes’ Commission – Yuhan Tan (Belgium), Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (Denmark) and Greysia Polii (Indonesia) – who will complete their four-year term in May. At least one male and one female must be elected. The third person will be the candidate (male or female) with the next highest number of votes.
Additionally, a fourth person – a female – will be elected to finish the term of Tang Yuanting. The Chinese player, who became a member of the Athletes’ Commission in 2015, has resigned following her retirement from badminton last year, thus leaving a casual vacancy on the Commission.
Therefore, either the female with the second-highest number of votes or the female with the third-highest number of votes (if the third person elected to the Commission is female) will be elected to serve the remaining two years of Tang’s term.
For the first time, voting by email will take place and this starts on Wednesday 26 April, 2017, and ends on Wednesday 24 May, 2017; the date on which players attending the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2017 in Gold Coast will be able to vote in person at the stadium.
The announcement of those persons elected to the BWF Athletes’ Commission will be made shortly thereafter.