Taking into consideration Chen Long’s status as reigning Olympic and World champion, the Badminton World Federation has granted the Chinese star a wild card to compete in the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017.

Exercising its prerogative to nominate a wild-card entry in each category, BWF determined the 28-year-old’s stature and fan appeal would enhance the Championships to be held at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, from 21-27 August this year. Chen Long has won the Men’s Singles title at the last two editions of the World Championships as well as gold at last summer’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Chen Long (featured image) fell short of automatic qualification for the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017, based on the BWF World Rankings of Thursday 27 April – the ranking date that determined the eligibility of players for this year’s World Championships.

This is the only wild card being awarded by BWF for the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017.