The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, the main venue for the Hangzhou Asian Games Photo: VCG

 
A total of 64 of the world's elite athletes will participate in the Badminton World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province in December. The match schedule for the finals was released on Tuesday.

The finals, which will take place from December 13 to 17, are the highest-level event in the badminton tour series. Only the top eight players in each of the five individual events' annual world rankings are eligible to participate.

This will be the first major international sport event held in Hangzhou after the Asian (and Para) Games. It's also part of the efforts that Hangzhou is making for the city to host international events and to allow local residents to benefit from the rich legacy of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, which hosted the Asian Games' basketball event, will be repurposed for the badminton finals by installing a hawk eye vision system and technical statistics devices. 

Men's singles world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, women's singles world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea and Chinese top shuttlers Chen Yufei, Li Shifeng and Shi Yuqi among others will take part in the finals. 

The international badminton flagship event will be staged in Hangzhou for the next four years starting from this year's event. 

Thomas Lund, secretary general of the Badminton World Federation, thanked the Hangzhou city government for their commitment to the sport.

"Badminton is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world with all-time high participation and fan numbers and Hangzhou with its superb sporting infrastructure and experience in staging elite international events is an ideal host for our finals," said Lund.

After the Asian Games, Hangzhou has fulfilled its commitment to build a city for international events.

Focused on repurposing the venues, the city adopted a hybrid model aimed at opening the facilities to the public while continuing to host domestic and international events to boost the reputation of the city.

In addition to the badminton finals, the inaugural International Canoe and Kayak Super Cup will be held in Hangzhou in October 2024. Hangzhou will also bid to host top international events such as the 2024 Global E-Sports Games, the 2024 Archery World Cup, and the 2025 International Shooting Federation World Cup.

Among the 56 competition venues of the Asian (and Para) Games, 19 will be open to the public to promote mass fitness; 21 will be managed by third-party companies and will be made accessible at rates lower than prevailing local market prices; eight will be turned into training bases for professional teams; and eight university venues will be used for educational purposes, according to the organizing committee of the Hangzhou Games. 

Mao Genhong, chief spokesperson of the Hangzhou Asian Games, told the Global times in October that the Games have yielded dividends in three aspects for Hanghzou.

First, the venues and facilities give people better access to exercise. The per capita sports area increased from 1.8 square meters to 2.71 square meters over the past eight years. Second, the Games helped upgrade Hangzhou's infrastructure and the Para Games promoted the construction of barrier-free facilities. Last, the Games stimulated the development of local sports. For example, the Tonglu Equestrian Center has laid foundations for the future development of the industry, said Mao.