The Yonex US Open 2026, the 61st edition of the tournament, concluded on 28 June 2026 at the Titan Gymnasium of California State University in Fullerton, California. Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei and Line Christophersen of Denmark emerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions respectively, each winning their first career BWF World Tour title at this Super 300 event.
Yonex US Open 2026: Tournament Overview
The US Open Badminton Championships is one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world, first held in 1954. Since 2018, it has been part of the BWF World Tour as a Super 300 level event, which is the fifth tier in the global tour hierarchy below Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, and World Tour Finals. The tournament is organized by USA Badminton and sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The 2026 edition carried a total prize purse of USD 250,000 and featured events across five categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The draw size was 32 for each singles category, with additional qualification rounds.
Titan Gymnasium, the venue for the tournament, has a seating capacity of 4,000 and was originally opened in 1965. It previously hosted the Yonex US Open in 2018 and 2019 and was also a venue for team handball during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The 2026 edition marked the tournament’s return to the Los Angeles area after a gap of several years.
Men’s Singles Final: Su Li-yang Clinches Maiden BWF World Tour Title
The men’s singles final was played between Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei, ranked 46th in the world and seeded eighth, and Kidambi Srikanth of India, ranked 38th in the world. The match lasted one hour and nine minutes, with Su prevailing 21-15, 16-21, 21-9.
The final began with Su taking an early lead at 7-2. Srikanth fought back to level the scores at 10-10, but Su responded by winning seven consecutive points to claim the first game. In the second game, Srikanth changed his tactics, using sharp cross-court net play and powerful down-the-line smashes to build a 20-13 lead and force a decider. However, the effort took a toll on his energy levels. In the third game, Su raced to an 8-0 run after the score was tied at 9-7, sealing the match comfortably.
Su Li-yang: A Rising Star from Chinese Taipei
Born on 27 December 2001, Su Li-yang is 24 years old and comes from a sporting family. His father, Su Chih Ming, played badminton at an elite level in Chinese Taipei, and his older brother Su Li Wei has also competed on the BWF World Tour. Su took up badminton in 2008 at primary school and later represented the University of Taipei.
The US Open title was Su’s first BWF World Tour title, marking a significant breakthrough in his career. Prior to this, his best results on the World Tour included a runner-up finish at the 2023 Taipei Open and quarterfinal appearances at the 2023 US Open and the 2023 Ruichang China Masters. He also represented Chinese Taipei at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Kidambi Srikanth: A Runner-Up Finish with a Sporting Gesture
Kidambi Srikanth, born 7 February 1993 in Hyderabad, is one of India’s most decorated badminton players. He made history in April 2018 by becoming the first Indian male shuttler to achieve the world number one ranking since Prakash Padukone. He is also the first Indian male to win a silver medal at the BWF World Championships, which he achieved in 2021 in Huelva, Spain.
Srikanth’s most prolific season came in 2017, when he won four Super Series titles in a single calendar year: the Indonesia Open, Australian Open, Denmark Open, and French Open. He is the only Indian to achieve this feat. In 2022, he captained the Indian team to its first ever Thomas Cup title, a landmark achievement in Indian badminton. He has also won medals at the Commonwealth Games (gold in mixed team and silver in men’s singles in 2018, and silver in mixed team and bronze in men’s singles in 2022) and the Asian Games (silver in men’s team in 2022).
Despite not winning an individual BWF World Tour title since his Super Series triumphs in 2017, Srikanth has continued to compete at a high level. The US Open was his third runner-up finish on the World Tour in under a year, following the 2025 Malaysia Masters (Super 500) and the 2025 Syed Modi International (Super 300).
Beyond the final result, Srikanth’s performance at the tournament was defined by a moment of extraordinary sportsmanship during his semifinal against Japan’s Yudai Okimoto. When the line judges made an incorrect call in Srikanth’s favor and the umpire refused to overturn it despite protests from the Japanese camp, Srikanth voluntarily hit the next serve into the net, conceding the point to his opponent. The gesture went viral on social media and drew widespread praise, with many calling it a defining moment of integrity in professional sports.
Women’s Singles Final: Line Christophersen Breaks the Final Jinx
In the women’s singles final, second seed Line Christophersen of Denmark defeated Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria 21-16, 16-21, 21-11 in a hard-fought contest that lasted over an hour. The match was the first Super 300 final for both players.
Christophersen took the opening game with relative control, but Nalbantova, playing in her first World Tour final at the age of 20, fought back strongly to take the second game and force a decider. In the third game, Christophersen regained her composure and dominated proceedings, closing out the match with a flurry of attacking shots.
For Christophersen, this victory carried special significance. It was her first BWF World Tour title after having lost all five previous World Tour finals she had reached. The Dane had been runner-up at the 2021 Spain Masters, the 2021 Orleans Masters, the Macau Open, and other events, earning a reputation as a player who could reach finals but not win them. The US Open title finally broke that pattern.
Born Line Drost Christophersen on 14 January 2000 in Dianalund, Denmark, the 26-year-old is a product of the Gentofte club. She won the girls’ singles gold at the 2018 European Junior Championships and a silver medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships. At the senior level, she won a silver medal at the 2021 European Championships and was part of Denmark’s victorious teams at the 2020 European Women’s Team Championships and the 2021 and 2023 European Mixed Team Championships. Her highest world ranking is 17th, achieved in October 2022, and she reached the quarterfinals of the 2026 All England Open, one of badminton’s most prestigious events.
Key Takeaways
- The Yonex US Open 2026 was the 61st edition of the tournament, held at Titan Gymnasium at California State University, Fullerton, from 23 to 28 June 2026.
- Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei won the men’s singles title, defeating India’s Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 16-21, 21-9, clinching his first BWF World Tour title.
- Line Christophersen of Denmark won the women’s singles crown, beating Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 21-16, 16-21, 21-11, also her first World Tour title after five previous final losses.
- Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian male to reach world number one (April 2018), won a silver medal at the 2021 BWF World Championships, and captained India’s historic Thomas Cup victory in 2022.
- The US Open Badminton Championships was first held in 1954 and became a BWF World Tour Super 300 event in 2018, with a prize purse of USD 250,000.
- The Badminton World Federation (BWF), founded in 1934, governs international badminton and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
