Top 10 Badminton Players of 2026: Shi Yu Qi leading

Shi Yu Qi and Kunlavut Vitidsarn are currently leading the 2026 list of the world’s top 100 men’s singles badminton players.

Top 10 Badminton Players of 2026: Shi Yu Qi leads the list of the 100 best men’s singles players so far in 2026

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Badminton results in 2026:

• India Open
• Malaysia Open
• Indonesia Masters

Meanwhile, rising names who have confirmed their status through the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 — such as Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Li Shi Feng — have comfortably placed themselves inside the Top 5, alongside proven elite figures like Anders Antonsen and Jonatan Christie.

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The BWF men’s singles world rankings updated on 10 February 2026 clearly reflect a highly competitive transitional phase.

Data: Top 100 men’s singles players — BWF World Rankings 2026.

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Top 10 Best Men’s Singles Players of 2026: Shi Yu Qi and Vitidsarn at the summit

1. Shi Yu Qi (China) – 108,247 points (11 tournaments)

Shi Yu Qi has reclaimed the world No.1 position with an extremely impressive level of efficiency. Despite playing fewer tournaments than most direct rivals, he has consistently gone deep — particularly at Super 750 and Super 1000 level.

Early in the 2026 calendar year, the Chinese star reached the final and only fell to his Southeast Asian rival Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

His stability in controlled attacking play, combined with sharp front-court handling, has helped him maintain the highest points efficiency on the tour.

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2. Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) – 100,079 points (17 tournaments)

Vitidsarn continues to grow in confidence and match temperament. The Thai player blends patient defence with fast counter-attacking transitions.

Regular semi-final and final appearances across the Asian swing have kept him firmly within striking distance of No.1.

Top 10 badminton players of 2026: Vitidsarn and Shi Yu Qi are having a blazing 2026.

3. Anders Antonsen (Denmark) – 93,413 points (17 tournaments)

Antonsen remains Europe’s leading hope. His disciplined style, strong physical base, and tactical awareness have ensured consistent results.

Deep runs at major events have secured his Top 3 status. At the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2026 earlier this year, Antonsen also finished third.

Antonsen is still in the process of rediscovering his very best form in pursuit of the top spot in the Top 10.

4. Jonatan Christie (Indonesia) – 84,174 points (17 tournaments)

Fourth place accurately reflects the Indonesian’s form so far — explosive in spells, but not yet enough to turn momentum into titles.

His standout result to date remains a runner-up finish at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2026 in mid-January, a tournament with a prize pool close to USD 1 million.

Christie has looked revitalised thanks to improved control over match rhythm and tempo.

5. Li Shi Feng (China) – 79,278 points (15 tournaments)

After winning the LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2025 and PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2025 — and finishing third at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025 — it is no surprise to see the right-hander firmly inside the Top 5.

Li Shi Feng has become increasingly sharp in front-court exchanges and transition phases. His points-per-tournament efficiency ranks among the best in the Top 10.

However, so far in 2026, the nearly 1.9m-tall Chinese player has yet to produce a truly notable result.

6. Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei) – 79,239 points (27 tournaments)

Chou is a genuine “workhorse” on tour, competing in 27 tournaments. His durability and experience allow him to maintain elite ranking stability despite an intense schedule.

But in 2026 to date, the DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters saw him exit in the quarter-finals after losing to Loh Kean Yew in straight games.

Fans will expect him to rediscover the form that made him runner-up at the KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2025 and champion at the CLASH OF CLANS Arctic Open 2025 powered by YONEX.

7. Christo Popov (France) – 78,790 points (20 tournaments)

Popov represents the new European wave. His high-speed style and fearless competitive edge have sparked a breakout.

He has also recorded several significant wins against seeded opponents.

8. Alex Lanier (France) – 73,320 points (15 tournaments)

Lanier has developed rapidly over the last two seasons.

His ability to go toe-to-toe with established stars has propelled him into the Top 10.

9. Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) – 70,250 points (21 tournaments)

The former world champion remains a dangerous proposition in faster conditions.

His explosive acceleration continues to deliver results, although his best finish in 2026 has been fourth place at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2026 in mid-January.

He followed that with another fourth-place finish at the DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2026.

10. Kodai Naraoka (Japan) – 69,654 points (22 tournaments)

Naraoka is known for his relentless rally endurance and physical toughness.

Despite dropping one place, he remains one of the most frustrating opponents in long matches.

Full table can be found here

BWF Men’s Singles Rankings (10.02.2026)

Rank	Player	Nationality	Points	Tournaments
1	Shi Yu Qi	China	108,247	11
2	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	Thailand	100,079	17
3	Anders Antonsen	Denmark	93,413	17
4	Jonatan Christie	Indonesia	84,174	17
5	Li Shi Feng	China	79,278	15
6	Chou Tien Chen	Taiwan	79,239	27
7	Christo Popov	France	78,790	20
8	Alex Lanier	France	73,320	15
9	Loh Kean Yew	Singapore	70,250	21
10	Kodai Naraoka	Japan	69,654	22
11	Lin Chun-Yi	Taiwan	67,268	22
12	Lakshya Sen	India	63,572	22
13	Kenta Nishimoto	Japan	61,292	25
14	Farhan Alwi	Indonesia	59,330	22
15	Weng Hong Yang	China	58,170	17
16	Victor Lai	Canada	55,511	19
17	Toma Junior Popov	France	54,621	19
18	Lu Guang Zu	China	54,450	18
19	Yushi Tanaka	Japan	51,525	24
20	Chi Yu Jen	Taiwan	50,897	24
21	Lee Chia Hao	Taiwan	50,018	25
22	Ayush Shetty	India	48,256	22
23	Rasmus Gemke	Denmark	47,287	23
24	Koki Watanabe	Japan	46,684	19
25	Lee Cheuk Yiu	Hong Kong	46,622	20
26	Wang Zheng Xing	China	46,201	17
27	Leong Jun Hao	Malaysia	45,691	20
28	Wang Tzu Wei	Taiwan	45,049	23
29	Nguyen Nhat	Ireland	44,871	19
30	Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul	Thailand	44,686	15
31	Ng Ka Long Angus	Hong Kong	44,189	21
32	Kidambi Srikanth	India	44,030	16
33	Brian Yang	Canada	43,296	26
34	Jason Teh Jia Heng	Singapore	43,285	27
35	H. S. Prannoy	India	39,606	20
36	Arnaud Merkle	France	39,292	16
37	Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah	Indonesia	38,931	14
38	Jeon Hyeok Jin	South Korea	38,269	15
39	Justin Hoh	Malaysia	37,052	22
40	Jason Gunawan	Hong Kong	35,810	18
41	Yudai Okimoto	Japan	35,776	13
42	Tharun Mannepalli	India	35,596	20
43	Bagas Shujiwo Prahdiska	Indonesia	35,193	16
44	Kiran George	India	35,070	18
45	Magnus Johannesen	Denmark	34,242	22
46	Aidil Sholeh	Malaysia	33,220	17
47	Wang Po-Wei	Taiwan	32,710	15
48	Joakim Oldorff	Finland	32,316	17
49	Su Li Yang	Taiwan	32,278	22
50	Viktor Axelsen	Denmark	30,290	6
51	Muhamad Yusuf	Indonesia	30,130	13
52	Anthony Sinisuka Ginting	Indonesia	29,454	10
53	Kalle Koljonen	Finland	29,219	17
54	Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo	Indonesia	28,740	10
55	Julien Carraggi	Belgium	28,589	20
56	Kantaphon Wangcharoen	Thailand	28,340	19
57	Mithun Manjunath	India	28,000	15
58	Aria Dinata	Croatia	27,959	12
59	Liao Jhuo-Fu	Taiwan	27,500	19
60	Hu Zhe An	China	27,365	13
61	Priyanshu Rajawat	India	27,230	13
62	Harry Huang	England	26,566	19
63	Minoru Koga	Japan	26,440	13
64	Lee Zii Jia	Malaysia	26,290	9
65	Daniil Dubovenko	Israel	26,193	17
66	Huang Ping-Hsien	Taiwan	25,500	16
67	Dong Tian Yao	China	25,310	9
68	Nguyen Hai Dang	Vietnam	25,240	12
69	Yoo Tae Bin	South Korea	25,129	19
70	S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian	India	24,900	19
71	Zhu Xuan Chen	China	24,805	12
72	Riki Takei	Japan	24,700	13
73	Ting Yen-Chen	Taiwan	24,629	17
74	Shogo Ogawa	Japan	24,480	14
75	Ditlev Jaeger Holm	Denmark	24,250	17
76	Kok Jing Hong	Malaysia	23,587	17
77	Manraj Singh	India	22,860	18
78	Kevin Cordon	Guatemala	22,718	10
79	Viren Nettasinghe	Sri Lanka	22,560	13
80	Wang Yu-Kai	Taiwan	22,260	12
81	Matthias Kicklitz	Germany	22,228	23
82	Yohanes Saut Marcellyno	Indonesia	21,864	12
83	Josh Nguyen	Canada	21,850	12
84	Roy Enogat	France	21,568	15
85	Cho Geonyeop	South Korea	21,435	15
86	Saneeth Dayanand	India	21,279	16
87	Eogene Ewe	Malaysia	21,235	19
88	Bismo Raya Oktora	Indonesia	21,120	13
89	Dmitriy Panarin	Kazakhstan	20,806	17
90	Cheam June Wei	Malaysia	20,780	13
91	Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar	India	20,680	17
92	Koo Takahashi	Japan	20,570	13
93	Misha Zilberman	Israel	20,557	17
94	Mark Shelley Alcala	USA	20,220	14
95	Alap Mishra	India	19,820	15
96	Kuo Kuan Lin	Taiwan	19,740	17
97	Christian Adinata	Indonesia	19,600	10
98	Kim Byung Jae	South Korea	19,310	14
99	Jonathan Matias	Brazil	19,151	12
100	Dumindu Abeywickrama	Sri Lanka	18,960	17