Poul-Erik Høyer (pictured of Denmark is the new President of the Badminton World Federation BWF.

The current Badminton Europe President and 1996 Olympic Men's Singles gold medallist defeated his lone rival, Dr. Justian Suhandinata of Indonesia, in this morning's vote by the BWF membership at the Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Høyer polled 145 votes to Suhandinata's 120. There was one spoilt ballot.

With the former Danish world class player, the world governing body of badminton elected its first European President since 1993.

Dr. Suhandinata was among the first to congratulate the new president in the presence of all the delegates attending the meeting from more than 150 of the BWF's 179 Member Associations.

Gustavo Salazar Delgado defeated incumbent Deputy President Paisan Rangsikitpho for that position. The Peruvian amassed 148 votes to Rangsikitpho's 118.

The new BWF Council (2013 until 2017):

President - Poul-Erik Høyer (Denmark)

Deputy President - Gustavo Salazar Delgado (Peru)

Confederation Vice Presidents:

Africa - Dagmawit Berhane
Asia - Liu Fengyan
Europe - Gregory Verpoorten
Oceania - Geraldine Brown
Pan America - Vishnu Tolan

Council members elected:

Akhilesh Das Gupta - India
Etienne Thobois - France
Sergey Shakhray - Russia
Li Ling Wei - China
Mehdi Karbasian - Iran
Lim Teong Kiat - Malaysia
David Cabello - Spain
Peter Tarcala - Slovakia
Raj Gaya - Mauritius
Jassem Kanso - Lebanon
Nigel Skelt - New Zealand
Nora Perry - England
Ranjit De Silva - Sri Lanka
Chipo Zumburani - Zimbabwe
Lawrence Chew - Switzerland
Wayne Somers - Canada
Ng Yoke Weng - Singapore

Joining Council are:

Paul Kurzo (Switzerland) - Vice President Para-Badminton
Emma Mason (Scotland) - Chair of BWF Athletes' Commission

Source: BWF. Photo by BadmintonPhoto (live)