Leeswadtrakul secured a majority victory over Chinese Badminton Association President, Zhang Jun. The 54-year-old Leeswadtrakul currently sits on the Executive Board of the BWF and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. She will preside in the role of BWF Deputy President for a two-year term from 2019-2021.

During her address, Leeswadtrakul spoke of increased diversity, reach and opportunity within the sport and championed the concepts of sport for all and outdoor badminton.

“I am very thankful for being elected BWF Deputy President. I am very humbled by this announcement and thank you to the membership for trusting me. I will do my best for the sport of badminton,” Leeswadtrakul said.

Nippon Badminton Association Secretary General Kinji Zeniya won the election for the one vacant BWF Council member position ahead of Kay Kamatuwa Chirwa (Zambia), Moneoang Leshota (Lesotho) and Omar Bellali (Morocco). Zeniya’s term is also for a two-year period from 2019-2021.

BWF President, Poul-Erik Høyer, said it was a significant day for the sport of badminton. "We are very pleased to announce the successful candidates in our two elections held today. I have full trust they will carry out their duties with honour and distinction," he said.

"2018 was a busy year for everyone and a great number of amazing things were achieved both on and off the court. Moving forward, the BWF is committed to driving this cause and providing the necessary assistance to support the Continental Confederations and Member Associations in our collective efforts to grow the game globally."

The Federation received two nominations for Deputy President and eight nominations for the one vacant BWF Council member position ahead of the February deadline.

There were four withdrawals in the candidacy for the vacant BWF Council position. They were Evans Kojo Yeboah (Ghana), Himanta Biswa Sarma (India), Jose Gabriel del Busto Fernandez (Guatemala) and Richard Vaughan (Ireland).

The elections took place at the 80th staging of the BWF Annual General Meeting in Nanning, China – host of the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2019.

The Federation took the occasion to further promote the new concept of AirBadminton with a presentation and exhibition for the BWF Council and wider BWF Membership. AirBadminton is BWF’s ambitious new development project designed to inspire more people to play more badminton in more places.

For more Information contact:
Lloyd Green
Communications and Media Manager
l.green@bwfbadminton.org
Mobile: +60 19-384 0556