The first Asian Badminton Championships was held in Kuala Lumpur in 1962. Since the world's premier badminton nations are mainly from the Asian region, the championships naturally features many of the best players in the world. The tournament also gives players from up-and-coming Asian badminton nations an opportunity to witness the sport at its top level. Top players from almost all the member associations of the Asian Badminton Confederation are expected to compete in this prestigious event. Players will be able to earn both Olympic qualifying points as well as IBF ranking points to qualify for the Championships. This year's event will be the 22th Championships to be held. In previous years, the event rotated between an individual and team format. Since 1994, the event has been strictly an individual Championships. Hosts of the Asian Badminton Championships: 1962 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1965 Lucknow, India 1969 Manila, Philippines 1971 Jakarta, Indonesia 1976 Hyderabad, India 1983 Calcutta, India 1985 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1987 Semarang, Indonesia 1988 Bandar Lampung, Indonesia 1989 Shanghai, China 1991 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1992 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1993 Hong Kong (only men's team) 1994 Shanghai, China 1995 Beijing, China 1996 Surabaya, Indonesia 1997 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1998 Bangkok, Thailand 1999 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2000 Jakarta, Indonesia 2001 Manila, Philippines 2002 Bangkok, Thailand 2003 Jakarta, Indonesia This is the sixth year that JVC has been in the title sponsorship role of the JVC Asian Badminton Championships. JVC has a long tradition of sponsoring world-class entertainment events. They are one of the sponsors of the World Cup football championships in Seoul/Tokyo, 2002. The JVC Asian Badminton Championships 2003 will be held in Jakarta from October 15 to 19, 2003 . The event is organized in a joint effort by the Asian Badminton Confederation, the Indonesian Badminton Federation and International Management Group. Past Asian Champions Malaysia has traditionally had good success in the Asian Badminton Championships. Malaysian men's singels ruled the event from 1991 - 94. Rashid Sidek is a two-time champion (1991/92) while Foo Kok Keong also won the men's singles title in 1994. The top Malaysian men's doubles duo of the 90's, Cheah Soon Kit / Yap Kim Hock won the doubles title in 1995. Other top world competitors have won the JVC Asian Badminton Championships as well. Ladies singles world #1, Ye Zhaoying, has won the title four times and the #1 world ranked Chinese Ladies doubles pair of Ge Fei and Gu Jun have won three times. Winners of the Asian Badminton Championships since 1991:
Overall: CHN is way dominating, especially in women events. KOR: Mighty pairs always overshadow individuals. MAS / IND: Guys are doing their job, lack of lady supports. HK: Errr... If CHN / KOR did not pull off their elites at the last minutes, will Wang Chen ever put the HK team on the board?
