Dubai: China swept the best men’s and women’s player awards at a BWF (Badminton World Federation) reception ahead of the Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals on Monday night.

World champion Chen Long won the Male Player of the Year award and Zhao Yunlei, dual world and Olympic champion in the Mixed Doubles and Women’s Doubles, took the Female Player of the Year award.

Japan’s rising star and two-time world junior champion Akane Yamaguchi won the Most Promising Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive year.

“I’m very happy to win this award,” said Chen Long. “My results are due to the team’s effort, so I owe thanks to the Chinese badminton team. I just have to focus on playing each tournament.”

Zhao was in contention for the award with compatriots Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan and Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen. Zhao has had an exceptional season, winning three Superseries titles with Tian Qing in Women’s Doubles and four titles with Zhang Nan in Mixed Doubles.

Zhao was thrilled with her award. “It’s a wonderful feeling. I have worked hard for many years. Of course this award will be great motivation for me for future tournaments,” she said.

The soft-spoken Yamaguchi was delighted at being named Most Promising Player of the Year for the second time in a row.

Yamaguchi retained her world junior championships title, and a runner-up position at the China Open confirmed expectations that she would be the player to watch in 2015. The other contenders in this category were China’s Lin Gui Pu, Chen Qingchen and He Bing Jiao, and Indonesia’s Rosyita Eka Putri Sari.

Chen had the perfect start to the year, winning the Korea Open. After finishing runner-up at the All England and India Open, he stormed to his first BWF World Championships title and followed that up with a victory at the Denmark Open. He also reached the title rounds in the Asian Games individual event and the Hong Kong Open. These accomplishments helped him edge past the other nominees: compatriots Lin Dan and Zhang Nan, and Korea’s Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeong Seong.