Malaysia's badminton superstar Lee Chong Wei and crack doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong have been listed as finalists for Male Player of the Year.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a statement today also listed China's Olympic champion, Chen Long, Denmark’s Jan Jorgensen, the top finisher in the Destination Dubai rankings, and Men’s Doubles pairing of Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (China).

The hard work and success of some of badminton’s biggest stars will be rewarded when the annual BWF Players of the Year Awards are announced on Dec 12 at the Dubai World Superseries Finals.

Chong Wei, the world number one men's singles shuttler, won his third straight Olympic silver medal at the Rio Olympics and also won World Superseries titles in Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, apart from the Asian crown.

Chen Long won the Rio 2016 Olympic Games title and was runner-up in the Superseries Premier events in Malaysia and China while men's double Goh/Tan finally played to potential, winning the Men’s Doubles silver in Rio and the Yonex Denmark Open title.

Nominations for Female Player of the Year are also split between singles players and doubles pairs, with Nozomi Okuhara of Japan; Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon; Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Denmark); and Olympic gold medallists, Masaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (Japan) going head-to-head for the top honour.

Meanwhile, some of badminton’s most exciting young athletes face off for the Most Promising Player of the Year (Eddy Choong Award) glory. It is a China versus Malaysia battle with the latter represented by Goh Jin Wei while China has three nominees in He Bingjiao, Chen Qingchen and Men’s Doubles duo, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen.

Goh has also showcased her potential with a runner-up finish at the Yonex-Sunrise Indonesian Masters and victory at the Orleans International. She was instrumental in Malaysia’s silver-medal run in the Suhandinata Cup in Spain.

- Bernama