Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand Elected as New President of BWF.
Appointment
On April 26, 2025, Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand was elected as the new President of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for the 2025–2029 term at the 86th BWF Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Xiamen, China.
- With this, Leeswadtrakul becomes the second woman to serve as president of the sport's global governing body, after China's Lu Shengrong, who held the position from 1993 to 2001.
- She succeeds Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen of Denmark, whose 12-year tenure has come to an end. Høyer was honored with the title of Honorary Life Vice President by the BWF membership at the BWF AGM.
- Note: The 87th BWF AGM is scheduled to be held in April or May 2026 in Horsens, Denmark.
Main Point :- (i) Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul has been serving as the President of the Badminton Association of Thailand since 2013. Under her leadership, Thailand won its first-ever Olympic medal in badminton at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with Kunlavut Vitidsarn securing silver in men’s singles. She is also a key figure in sports administration, holding positions in Thailand’s National Olympic Committee, the IOC, and the Olympic Council of Asia.
(ii) Etienne Thobois of France was confirmed as the Deputy President-elect of BWF, while Richard Perot, also from France, was elected as the BWF Vice President for Para Badminton. Additionally, 20 new BWF Council members were inducted, including Zhang Jun of China and Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria of Malaysia.
(iii) The 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Los Angeles, United States of America (USA).
About Badminton World Federation (BWF)
President: Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul
Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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