The World Tour Finals begin tomorrow, marking the final tournament of the year. The event brings together the eight best-performing players and pairs from the past season on the BWF World Tour, all competing for the World Tour Finals trophy.

This year, Europe will have three chances for success in a tournament otherwise dominated by many of the world’s top Asian stars. Anders Antonsen and Christo Popov have both qualified for the men’s singles, while Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue will compete in the mixed doubles.

The World Tour Finals are played in a group format, with two groups in each category and four players or pairs per group. The top two from each group advance to the semifinals.

Antonsen and Popov have been drawn into the same group and will even open their campaigns by facing each other tomorrow. Also drawn into their group are Jonatan Christie and Kunlavut Vitidsarn, meaning the two Europeans face extremely tough competition in their quest for a semifinal place. Last year, Antonsen reached the final, where he was defeated by world number one Shi Yu Qi.

In the mixed doubles, Gicquel and Delrue have been drawn into Group A alongside:

• Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Supissara Paewsampran
• Jiang Zhen Bang / Wei Ya Xin
• Hiroki Midorikawa / Natsu Saito

The French pair will begin their tournament tomorrow against the world number one pair, Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.