Akane Yamaguchi of Japan was named the BWF's Female Player of the Year at the organisation's end-of-season awards ©BWF

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi have been named as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) male and female players of the year.

During the eligibility period from November 1 2021 to October 31 2022, Axelsen was almost unstoppable, winning nine titles, including a second World Championship crown, and three successive World Tour titles.  

"Winning this award at the end of the year means a great deal," said the double Olympic singles champion.

"It’s a recap of the whole year, and when you win this award with so many great nominees and amazing opponents, I’m really, really happy."

The other nominees in the category were 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and reigning men’s singles Asian champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia.

In the women’s category Yamaguchi received the accolade after winning successive World Championships in the space of nine months.

Yamaguchi also claimed this year’s All England Open and Japan Open titles.

"It’s the first time receiving this award and I feel really honoured and happy," said Yamaguchi.

The other contenders for the title were An Se-Young of South Korea and Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.

The BWF Pair of the Year title went to Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong of China, who won seven titles in a row, including a third gold at the World Championships.

Kodai Naraoka, left, was named the BWF's Most Promising Player of the Year at the awards, held on the eve of the BWF World Tour Finals ©BWF
Kodai Naraoka, left, was named the BWF's Most Promising Player of the Year at the awards, held on the eve of the BWF World Tour Finals ©BWF

The other nominees in the category were Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China and Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.

The BWF Most Improved Players of the Year award went to Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who enjoyed a consistent year that saw them reach eight finals and win four of them.

Kodai Naraoka, who reached four finals and won the Vietnam Open title, won the Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year title in recognition of the improvements the 21-year-old Japanese player had made over the past 12 months.

The BWF Male Para Badminton Player of the Year category was won by Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara, the WH2 world champion and reigning Paralympic champion.

Manisha Ramadass of India, the SU5 world champion, was named the BWF Female Para Badminton Player of the Year.

Finally, the BWF Para Badminton Pair of the Year accolade went to Thomas Wandschneider and Rick Cornell Hellmann of Germany, world champions in the WH1 and WH2 categories.

The title capped an impressive year for Wandschneider, who became the oldest Para badminton world champion at the age of 58 last month.

The awards were handed out to coincide with the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, held in Bangkok in Thailand.