Sudirman Cup winners: A story of Chinese dominance disrupted by South Korea and Indonesia
The Chinese mixed team is the most successful with 13 titles while Korea are four-time champions. Full list of Sudirman Cup winners!
Badminton
The BWF Sudirman Cup is a biennial mixed team competition organised by Badminton World Federation (BWF) - the sport's global governing body.
Over the years, the Sudirman Cup has established itself as the premier mixed team badminton championship in the world, just like the Thomas Cup is for men and Uber Cup is for women.
Like most team championship events, every tie in the Sudirman Cup consists of five matches - men’s singles, women's singles, men’s doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. Whichever team wins three matches clinches the tie.
The idea of a mixed team championship was mooted by the badminton association of Indonesia, who wanted a tournament in memory of its late founder and president Dick Sudirman, who died in 1986. Indonesia’s proposal was accepted in 1988 by the international badminton federation.
The first BWF Sudirman Cup was held in 1989 in Indonesia and was won by the home team. Indonesia have made six finals since but haven’t been able to clinch a second title.
The next two editions, in 1991 and 1993, were won by the Republic of Korea but since then, the People's Republic of China have dominated the tournament, winning all but two editions held from 1995 to 2021. Korea won the Sudirman Cup in 2003 and 2017.
The Sudirman Cup has been contested by many Badminton World Federation member countries over the years but China have been the most successful with 13 titles.
The most recent edition, in 2023, was held in Suzhou, China and featured 16 of the best badminton teams in the world. The hosts won the title after blanking South Korea 3-0 in the final.
India, two-time quarter-finalists in 2011 and 2017, have never won a medal in the Sudirman Cup to date.