Top 10 Best Female Badminton Players

Never underestimate woman!

Badminton is a very difficult and technical sport, so you must be fully prepared to play on the elite level. There are impressive women whose games last for 2 hours or even more.

Let’s get to know the top 10 best female badminton players. Some of them are long-lasting, while others achieved the best results before the age of 25.

Table of Contents

Zhang Beiwen

Zhang Beiwen was born in China in 1990. She moved to Singapore when she was 13 years old, and quickly grew up into one of the greatest female badminton players in the world.

In 2018, Zhang won India Open and earned two second places on US and Korea Open. Beiwen was a member of the Singaporean national team, despite she was born in a different country.

There is no doubt this girl was made of rubber!

The greatest successes of her career are women’s team bronze medal at Southeast Games in 2009. She was also a runner-up at French Open in 2016, where He Bingjiao demolished her in the finals (9-21, 9-21).

Nozomi Okuhara

Nozomi Okuhara was born in Nagano in 1995, and she is one of the greatest Japanese badminton players. Nozomi is a single specialist, who defeats the biggest female names of this sport.  

Okuhara is only 1,56 meters tall but she moves like a Siberian cat and returns impossible shots, showing one of the most perfect footwork over and over. Nozomi shocked the world after winning a medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Nozomi is among the best female badminton players. She was a World Junior champion back in 2012.

In senior competition, her greatest success is a gold medal from World Championship in 2017, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ratchanok Intanon

The most successful Thai name on the list of the best female badminton players. Ratchanok was born in Bangkok in 1995, and she is a former champion of the world (she achieved this in Guangzhou 2013).

While she was in her prime, Ratchanok Intanon won Asian Championships in 2015. “May” also earned two gold medals at Southeast Asian Games with women’s team in 2011 and 2015.

Better stay away from Ratchanok when she is in a great mood!

Sun Yu

Sun Yu is one of the greatest Chinese female badminton players. She was born in 1994 in Dalian.

In most of the BWF Superseries tournament, Dalian-born Chinese prospect reached the finals, but she had a hard time skipping the last obstacle. That is the reason she has only one win from the Singapore Open in 2015.

In the women’s team, Sun Yu earned notable achievements. The most interesting ones are gold medals from East Asian Games in 2013 and Asian Team Championships in 2016.

Saina Nehwal

This girl is a great rising talent from India. Despite she was born in 1990, Saina’s shape is still great and her successes are outstanding.

Saina Nehwal is the former Olympic medalist from London 2012. She also earned two medals on the World Championships.

Nehwal is a three-time bronze medal winner at Asian Championships and two-time men’s singles Commonwealth champion. Oh, she is one of the richest female badminton players too!

Sung Ji-Hyun

Sung Ji-Hyun is the 1st placed on the list of the best female badminton players from South Korea. Sung competed in the Olympic Games back in 2012 and 2016.

She is a former women’s singles Asian champion and 3rd placed from the World Championship in Jakarta in 2015. Sung achieved notable results in mixed women’s team too. 

PV Sindhu

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is the greatest female name in the history of Indian badminton. This beauty was born in 1995, and she is the first women from India who earned a medal in the Olympic Games (silver from Rio de Janeiro 2016).

Pusarla is a singles expert. With four medals from the World Championships and two off the Asian Games, PV Sindhu is just a perfect example of the great female badminton players.

Unfortunately, PV only won gold medals in the mixed team competition on Commonwealth Games in 2016 and women’s team in Southeast Asian Games in the same year. It looks like she needs to think of some psychological training routine to improve her performances.

Carolina Marin

Seeing a Spanish name on the list of the greatest badminton female players comes as a surprise, right? Well, not anymore!

Carolina Marin is a dangerous patient left-handed player who constantly pressures her opponent and attacks like a pro. She is a four-time European champion and a three-time champ of the world.

Marin was born in Huelva in 1993. After a win over PV Sindhu in the Olympic Games in 2016, Carolina Marin became the first Spanish badminton player to win the medal in the most prestigious competition in the world.

Tai-Tzu Ying

Tai-Tzu Ying is currently leading on the list of the best female badminton players. She was born in 1994 in Taiwan, and she is the greatest name this country has ever produced in the history of this sport. \

Tai is a two-time Asian Championship winner and Asian Games champion. She moves great, returns almost every strike, and patiently irritates the opponent forcing her to make a mistake.

This girl was also a gold medal in Summer Universiade in Taipei 2017.

Akane Yamaguchi

Akane Yamaguchi is the greatest badminton name in the history of Japan. This superwoman has earned many titles, and her time is coming, as she was born in 1997.

Akane is the youngest woman who won Badminton BWF Series Tournament. One of the best female badminton players was only 16 years and 3 months old when she earned a notable win over Shizuka Uchida to secure a win on 2013 Japan Super Series.

Akane Yamaguchi is also the only non-Chinese female competitor who won at Korea Open and Denmark Open consecutively.

But that’s not all, as Yamaguchi won a silver medal at Asian Championships in 2017 and gold at BWF World Championships in 2018. Oh, she is only 1.56 meters tall but smashes harder than many tennis players!

Best Female Badminton Player of All Time

The list is not sorted by any years, preference, etc. We respect each of them, as a badminton player, as well a female warrior. They make the badminton world better while being a proud superstar of woman.

If you want to learn how to play badminton like them, start here.

Which one of them is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comment below!

Summary