The China Badminton Super League (CBSL) () is the prime National team competition for badminton players in China. The China Badminton Super League was re-launched in 2009 after a failing attempt seven years earlier. Liu Fengyan, director of the Table Tennis and Badminton Administration Center under China's State General Administration of Sport, announced the re-launch during the 50th anniversary meeting of the Chinese Badminton Association.
The China Badminton Super League (CBSL) has welcomed huge sponsorship deals hereby attracting top players from China and abroad to the participating teams.
Format The China Badminton Super League is a mixed team event, like the Sudirman Cup. After the inaugural first season the league was divided into two round-robin stages and then a final elimination stage. The clubs will be placed according to points accumulated by the end of this stage. After the inaugural season eight clubs were selected. Later from 2012 twelve clubs participated divided into two round-robin groups of each six clubs and from 2015 on the competition was back to eight teams.
In the round-robins, each of the participating clubs will be playing against every other club twice, once on their home courts, and the other on their opponent's. Next, in the elimination stage, the first four ranking teams in the round-robins will be placed in a group, equaling to the semifinal. At first the bottom four were also placed in another group, fighting for a better placing from among fifth to eighth spot. Like in the round-robins, at first the semifinalists had to play twice, once in each club's home courts. An extra round would be played if the teams end up with a tie. But from 2015 on a single semi-final tie was played. Also once a team had already won the first three matches in a tie, each game in the following matches would only be played to 11 points instead of 21. Later this was also eliminated when a tie was decided in the final stages no further match was played.
From the 2013 season the CBSL competition rules were significantly changed. First, the 21-point games was scrapped in favor of a greatly scaled down 11-point system in order to reduce the duration of each competition to meet the requirement of live telecasts. By this means, the CBSL organization committee was able to convince sports channel CCTV to broadcast some focus competitions both in the group and knock-out stages. With live telecasts, commercial prospects for the CBSL seem much brighter and this may have attracted more and more financial supports from business enterprises. The scoring change had also created more uncertainty and suspense for each match.
Second, they introduced mixed three-on-three into the team competition. 3-on-3 was originally used as a training drill inside national team to enhance the reaction speed of doubles players. With three players on each side, the speed and pace of the match is very quick and exciting. From 2013 till 2015 each competition included 5 matches: men's singles, women's singles, and mixed 3-on-3 match which were fixed, while another two matches alternated among men's doubles, mixed doubles and women's doubles.
A third alteration was the addition of one amateur men's doubles match before the start of each competition. In an attempt to increase public involvement and interaction with the CBSL, the players were selected from local amateur events. As members of the clubs they were rewarded with some training courses. By playing in the CBSL events, the players could earn points of CBA amateur ranking system or even prizes if their performances were good enough.
From 2015 on the above-mentioned changes were turned around again by the organizers of the CBSL to the normal Sudirman Cup format and the normal 21 point scoring system.
2009 season 2009 was the inaugural season for the China Badminton Super League. Only in this first season a total of 14 teams participated in the preliminary qualification stage. Ultimately only 8 of these teams then took part in the main stage of the CBSL. The 14 teams originally taking part in the preliminary rounds in the first 2009 season were: Beijing Shichalai Shanghai 1 Trillion Wade Jiangsu Yonex Zhejiang Tong Fujian Hubei SOTA Hunan Kawasaki Guangdong Li-Ning Guangxi Sichuan Chuanwei Qingdao Beer Xiamen Wei Shi Guangzhou Southern 81 Chivas (PLA - Chinese People's Liberation Army)
The top teams of each of the four groups entered the semifinals. The four teams that went to the semifinals were 81 Chivas, Jiangsu Yonex, Hubei and home-team Guangzhou where the ties took place. In the first semi-final, Jiangsu beat Hubei 3-0. In the second semi-final 81 Chivas beat Guangzhou 3-0. In the final the strong and powerful Jiangsu Yonex team beat 81 Chivas with 3-0. The 2009 CBSL championship team of Jiangsu Yonex included top players like Wang Shixian, Tao Jiaming, Sun Xiaoli, Cheng Shu, Tang Jinhua, Li Yu, Zhi Luoliang, Cai Yun, Xu Chen and Lu Lan. Based on the results of the inaugural first year's CBSL competition, 8 clubs were selected to play in the next 2010 China Badminton Club Super League in a new home and away system.
2010 season The 2010 season started with a round-robin system for the 8 participating teams. There were a few unique rules in the China Badminton Super League from 2010:
1. Teams placed fourth and fifth at the end of the round-robins had to fight in a PK round where the winner proceeded as the fourth team, joining the semifinal match, while the loser fell to the fifth-to-eighth placing group.
2. The first-placing team in the round-robins will pick a semi-final opponent from either the third or fourth placing team. While the winners proceed into the finals, the defeated team with a higher placing in the round-robins will be placed third, and the lower one placed fourth. Aside from that, the seventh-placing team in the round-robins will also pick an opponent from the teams placed fifth and sixth. The four teams in this group will only play one elimination match each. The two winning teams will be placed fifth and sixth according to their placing in the round-robins, and the defeated teams placed seventh and eighth under the same rule.
3. The team placed eighth at the end of the league will play a match against the champion of the National A-Grade One League, where the winner earns a chance to play in the coming China Super League with the loser dropping-out.
The composition of the players from each team in the 2010 China Badminton Super League are shown below;
Guangzhou: Doubles: Guo Zhendong, Hong Wei, Gan Zhaolong, Zhang Jinkang, Zhang Jiewen, Zhong Qianxin Singles: Wang Zhengming, Liu Xin
Hubei: Doubles: Yu Yang, Wang Xiaoli, Rao Yuqiang, Ding Yang, Li Rui, Zhao Yunlei, Li Junyang Singles: Li Wen, Wen Kai, Chen Yuekun
Hunan: Doubles: Zheng Bo, Tian Qing, Xia Huan, Chai Biao, Zhang Wen, Liu Peixuan, Bao Yixin Singles: Shi Xiaoqian, Bao Chunlai, Chen Xiaojia
Jiangsu: Doubles: Tang Jinhua, Cheng Shu, Cai Yun, Xu Chen, Tao Jiaming, Sun Xiaoli Singles: Lu Lan, Wang Shixian, Chen Jin, Li Yu, Qiu Yanbo
Bayi BC - PLA (Chinese People's Liberation Army): Doubles: He Hanbin, Feng Chen, Pan Pan, Li Xuerui, He Hangqing, Li Gen Singles: Lin Dan, Jiang Yanjiao
Zhejiang: Doubles: Sang Yan, Zhang Nan, Zhang Yawen, Zhou Hui Singles: Wang Lin, Du Pengyu, Huang Yuxiang
Qingdao: Doubles: Qiu Zihan, Ma Jin, Du Jing, Fu Haifeng, Shen Ye, Luo Yu Singles: Zhou Wenlong, Wang Xin, Liu Jingru
Shanghai: Doubles: Chen Zhiben, Xie Jing, Liu Yingchun, Yu Hao, Yu Junjie, Shi Hong, Hu Minyu Singles: Chen Long, Wang Yihan, Zhu Lin, Lu Qicheng
After almost two months of playing, the year's 2010 Chinese Badminton Super League came to an end. The year's two finalists were Qingdao and Hunan. Qingdao was expected to be in the final as they finished in the top 3 after the second round robin stage. In the semifinals against Jiangsu, they were defeated 3:2 whereas Qingdao won by a bigger margin at home, 3:0. As each club won once, they had to play a rubber tie and Qingdao defeated Jiangsu 3:0 to advance to the final.
In the other semi-final, Hunan, the dark horse, defeated Bayi BC, the 81st post of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (the strongest club led by Lin Dan and Jiang Yanjiao). Chinese People's Liberation Army was ranked first after the second round robin stage. In the semifinals, Hunan lost to Chinese People's Liberation Army 1:3 at home whilst Chinese People's Liberation Army lost to Hunan 2:3 at home. As each club won once, they also had to play a tie. At last, Hunan defeated Chinese People's Liberation Army 3:1 with the absence of Lin Dan in the tie. Qingdao beat Hunan 3:2 in the first leg of the final. After also winning the second leg of the final of the China Badminton Super League with a convincing 3:1 win from Qingdao over Hunan, the 2010 championship title was sealed. Shanghai ended up as the weakest team during the 2010 league as they never won a tie. They lost 18 out of 18 matches they had played. According to league regulations, Shanghai had to compete with the champion of the Badminton League One to decide whether they still could stay and play in next year's Chinese Badminton Super League.
Final Team ranking 2010 CBSL:
1st – Qingdao – GOLD, 2nd – Hunan – SILVER, 3rd – Jiangsu, & (Bayi BC) PLA - Chinese People's Liberation Army – (both teams) BRONZE,
5th – Zhejiang, 6th – Guangzhou, 7th – Hubei, 8th – Shanghai – had to play for relegation
2011 season The 2011 CBSL season started with the round-robin system for the 8 participating teams. The composition of the players from each team in the 2011 China Badminton Super League are shown below:
Shanghai Zi Wei Ke Badminton Club Male players: Chen Long, Lu Qicheng, Gu Chao, Yu Junjie, Yu Hao, Shi Hong Female players: Zhu Lin, Wang Yihan, Xie Jing, Liu Yingchun, Hu Minyu, Kang Yiling
JiangSu Yonex Badminton Club Male players: Chen Jin, Sun Junjie, Tao Jiaming, Li Yu, Qiu Yanbo, Guo Cheng Female players: Wang Shixian, Sun Xiaoli, Tang Jinhua, Dong Yourong, Xong Mengjing, Shao Jiahui
ZheJiang Yin Jiang Badminton Club Male players: Du Pengyu, Sang Yang, Ding Yang, Guo Zi Yu, Huang Yuxiang, Wang Sijie Female players: Zhang Yawen, Wang Lin, Zhou Hui, Huang Yaqiong, Du Peng
Wuhan Autocity Badminton Club Male players: Li Rui, Wen Kai, Rao Yuqiang, Ding Yang, Chen Yuekun, Li Junyang Female players: Yu Yang, Wang Xiaoli, Zhao Yunlei, Li Wen, Chen Xi, Fang Aixian
Hunan Xiangcai Securities Badminton Club Male players: Bao Chunlai, Zheng Bo, Chai Biao, Zhang Shen, Zhang Wen, Dong Shuai Female players: Tian Qing, Shi Xiao Qian, Xia Huan, Bao Yixin, Chen Xiaojia, Xie Siyu
QingDao Beer Badminton Club Male players: Fu Haifeng, Shen Ye, Qiu Zihan, Zhou Wenlong Female players: Wang Xin, Liu Jie, Wang Siyun, Ma Jin, Luo Ying, Luo Yu
Guangzhou Yueyu Badminton Club Male players: Wang Zhengming, Gan Zhaolong, Yang Jie, Tang Junxian, Lee Chong Wei, Taufik Hidayat Female players: Deng Xuan, Zhong Qianxin, Ou Dongni, Mei Qili, Xiao Ting
Bayi Dongling Refinery Badminton Club Male players: Lin Dan, He Hanbin, He Hanqing, Li Gen Female players: Li Xuerui, Xiong Shuai, Luo Cheng, Jiang Yanjiao, Pan Pan, Feng Chen
The China League's defending champion, Qingdao Beer took on the previous year's runner-up Hunan Xiangcai Securities in the 2011 final battle. According to the league's regulations, a team is declared champion if placed top of the list twice at the end of both cycles. If a different team grabs the first place in the second cycle, the team with a higher ranking within top four in the other cycle wins.