Greatest Badminton Players Quiz

Name the 50 greatest badminton players of all time. The board ranks them from #1 to #50.

The ranking is not an opinion poll. A formula gives each player points for results in the biggest events of the sport.

Each card shows the rank, the country of the player and the main events of the player. You type the name.

Men and women are on one board. Singles players and doubles players are on the same board too.

How to play

• Just start typing. The quiz checks your answer at every keystroke. There is no submit button.
• A correct name turns its card over. You can answer in any order.
• The full name counts. For many players, the family name alone counts too.
• A family name alone does not count when it is the first word of the full name. Most Chinese and Korean names start with the family name.
• A Chinese or Korean name also counts in the other order, with the given name first.
• Spelling is forgiving. Capitals, accents, spaces and hyphens are ignored.
• The timer starts at your first keystroke and counts up. Give Up ends the run and shows every player that you missed. Progress saves automatically.

What counts in this quiz

• Only individual events count: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.
• An Olympic medal from 1992 to 2024 gives 12 points for gold, 7 points for silver and 4 points for bronze.
• A World Championship medal from 1977 to 2026 gives 8 points for gold, 4 points for silver and 2 points for bronze.
• An All England title from 1947 on gives 4 points. A second place gives no points.
• An All England title from 1899 to 1939 gives 1 point. In those years, nearly all players came from Britain and Ireland.
• Each period of 10 weeks at world No. 1 in the BWF world ranking gives 1 point.
• A doubles or mixed doubles result gives each of the two players half of the points. The two players share the result.
• The same rule applies to weeks at world No. 1 in a doubles event.
• When two players have the same points, the player with more Olympic and World Championship gold medals ranks higher. If that is also equal, the player with the earlier first title ranks higher.
• The country on a card is the country that the player played for in most results.

What's not included, and why

• Team events do not count: the Thomas Cup, the Uber Cup and the Sudirman Cup.
• Junior events, para badminton and veterans events do not count.
• The Olympic events of 1972 and 1988 do not count. Badminton was only a demonstration sport at those Games.
• Other tournaments do not count. This includes the World Tour, the Asian Games and the continental championships.
• Weeks at No. 1 before October 2009 do not count. The source has no weekly list before that date.
• A medal that was taken away for doping does not count.

Good to know

• China has 25 of the 50 players. South Korea has 7, Indonesia has 5 and Denmark has 4.
• 32 of the 50 players are women and 18 are men.
• On 21 cards, the hint names singles only. On 23 cards, it names doubles only. On 6 cards, it names both.
• The oldest result on the board is from 1939 and the newest is from 2026. 32 players won their first title in 2000 or later.
• 28 players won Olympic gold. 4 players have no Olympic or World Championship medal, because they played before 1977.