Account
Badminton World Championships 2018: Dates, Live Stream, Schedule and Preview
July 30, 2018
The 2018 Badminton World Championships will start on Monday as the world's best compete in Nanjing, China.
The tournament will run from Monday through to Sunday, and BadmintonWorld.tv will be streaming the matches live as well as providing catch-up of the action.
A complete draw for the championships can be found at the tournament's official website for all five events; men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles.
Here's the schedule for each round (all times local/BST/ET):
- Preliminary rounds: July 30, 31, August 1, 2 (from 10 a.m./3 a.m./10 p.m.)
- Quarter-finals: August 3 (from 11 a.m./4 a.m./11 p.m. and 6 p.m./11 a.m./6 a.m.)
- Semi-finals: August 4 (from 11 a.m./4 a.m./11 p.m. and 6 p.m./11 a.m./6 a.m.)
- Finals: August 5 (from 1 p.m./6 a.m./1 a.m.)
The Badminton World Federation shared a look at who to watch for during the tournament:
Defending champion and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen will be the one to beat in the men's singles draw.
The 24-year-old is hoping to use his victory in last year's World Championships as a platform for future success.
Per the Olympic Channel, the Dane—who picked up bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro—said:
"Being a men's singles badminton player, I think that everyone dreams of becoming world champion once in your career. To achieve that in 2017 was a big dream of mine coming true. I didn't really think that it would happen so soon.
"It has definitely been a change in my career. It has also given me the belief that I can achieve even more. But it will be really tough to win it again, however, I believe that I can do so."
Axelsen has had a challenging year in 2018 having dealt with ankle surgery in February and breathing difficulties brought on by allergies. In his first tournament back after the former, though, he showed his class by winning the European Badminton Championships in April.
As fellow Danish player Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus noted, there are many feathers in his cap:
He faces a tricky draw in Nanjing, as a potential clash with Olympic champion Chen Long of China awaits him in the quarter-finals.
Axelsen won't have to meet Japanese rival Kento Momota until the final, though, which is good news given the latter's record against him:
The Dane will open his title defence against Portuguese player Duarte Nuno Anjo, who sits 129 places below him in the world rankings.