The BWF World Junior Championships (also known as the World Junior Badminton Championships) is a tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to crown the best junior badminton players (under-19) in the world. The championships is held annually and consists of two separate competitions: a mixed team championships (Suhandinata Cup) followed by an individual championships (Eye Level Cups).[1]
The precursor of the championships was the Bimantara World Junior Invitational held in Indonesia from 1987 to 1991.[2] In 1992, International Badminton Federation (former name of Badminton World Federation) started the first IBF World Junior Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. BWF later decided the championships will be held annually instead of biennially starting from the 2007 edition.
The 2020 BWF World Junior Championships was a tournament that was to be the twenty-second edition of the BWF World Junior Championships. Auckland was awarded the event in November 29, 2018 during the announcement of 18 major badminton event hosts from 2019 to 2025.[3] Originally the event was to be held from 28 September to 11 October 2020 but had to be rescheduled due to COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.[4] It would have been held in Auckland, New Zealand from 11 to 24 January 2021.[5] On 22 October 2020, it was later cancelled and the 2024 edition to be held in New Zealand.[6] On 16 June 2023, BWF confirmed that Badminton New Zealand has relinquished its hosting rights for the 2024 edition.[7]
The 2021 BWF World Junior Championships was going to be the twenty-second edition of the BWF World Junior Championships. China was awarded the event in November 29, 2018 during the announcement of 18 major badminton event hosts from 2019 to 2025.[8]Chengdu was named in July 2020 as the bidding city and accepted as the host for the event.[9] It was planned to be held in Chengdu, China but was cancelled in August 2021 owing to widespread outbreaks of the Delta variant of COVID-19.[10][11]
The table below gives an overview of all host cities and countries of the World Junior Championships. The most recent games were held in Spokane, United States in 2023. The number in parentheses following the city/country denotes how many times that city/country has hosted the championships.
Below is the gold medalists shown based by category and countries since the championships' inception in 1992, with China being the most successful in the World Junior Championships. They were the only country ever to achieve a shutout of the medals which they did in 2000.
World Junior Championships has had at least one team appearing for the first time. The total number of teams that have participated in the World Junior Championships until the 2023 edition is 82.
