The Badminton World Championships 2019 will take place from 19–25 August 2019. Around 50 nations will be competing in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles matches at the event in St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. You can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to watch the event free online abroad. We’ll explain how below.

Please note that we’ll only be recommending official sources to watch the Badminton World Championships. The reason for this is that unofficial streams are very unreliable. Not only do they tend to be of poor quality, they can be taken down at a moment’s notice. Besides, you can watch the Badminton World Championships online for free so there’s no need to waste time looking for inferior, unauthorised streams.

To watch the Badminton World Championships free you’ll need a VPN if you’re in a country where YouTube is blocked.

How to watch the Badminton World Championships free online abroad

Can’t wait to get started? Here’s how you can watch the Badminton World Championships live and for free online:

How to watch the Badminton World Championships free on BadmintonWorld.TV

The best place to watch the Badminton World Championships 2019 is via BadmintonWorld.TV, which is the official YouTube channel of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Here, you can watch the Badminton World Championships live as well as on-demand. You can also watch a lot of content via the BWF’s official website.

Using a VPN to watch the Badminton World Championships

  • Sign up with a suitable VPN service. We recommend ExpressVPN. However, NordVPN and CyberGhost are particularly reliable, low-cost alternatives.
  • Download and install the appropriate VPN app or browser extension for your device.
  • Open the VPN app or browser extension and click to connect to a server.
  • Go to BadmintonWorld.TV and select a video which should be unblocked.
  • If you’re having any problems, clear your browser’s cache and cookies. Alternatively, try a server in another country or contact your VPN’s customer support.

The good news is that the BadmintonWorld.TV YouTube channel and its content is accessible from most countries. We only found the content to be restricted in Japan in our testing. However, YouTube is no stranger to censorship and is currently banned in China, for example. YouTube has also faced censorship in countries including Germany, Iran and Turkey.

If you’re in a country in which YouTube is banned or restricted, you can still watch the Badminton World Championships free online by connecting to a VPN. We recommend ExpressVPN which is fast, reliable, and able to unblock YouTube. What’s more, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out risk-free.

Can I use a free VPN to watch the Badminton World Championships online?

Unfortunately, many free VPNs aren’t able to get around the geo-restrictions of websites and services such as YouTube, Netflix, and Skype. For this reason, you may not be able to use a free VPN to watch the Badminton World Championships for free online. Besides, free VPNs are known to be very slow which makes streaming live sports events a challenge. You might encounter frequent, lengthy periods of buffering or excessive lag, leading you to miss key moments.

We also don’t recommend free VPNs because they lack the security required to properly protect your privacy online. Some free VPNs resort to shady tactics in order to make money and could be tracking your online activity with the hopes of selling it to the highest bidder. Some free VPNs even limit the amount of data you can use in order to encourage you to upgrade to a paid plan. All in all, free VPNs simply aren’t worth the hassle.

What should I know about the Badminton World Championships?

The Badminton World Championships is the biggest badminton sporting event, offering the most ranking points (along with the Summer Olympics). Founded in 1977, the tournament is held annually (except in the year of the Olympic Games). However, while winners are crowned World Champions and awarded gold medals, there’s no tournament prize money.

This year, the Badminton World Championships takes place in Basel, Switzerland at St. Jakobshalle. It will be the first time that the World Championships and Para World Championships are hosted together. The tournament is held from August 19–25 with matches typically taking place from 9am to 10pm (CET). The final and presentation ceremonies are scheduled for Sunday 25 August from 12am to 5pm.

Who are the favorites to win the Badminton World Championships?

China has dominated the men’s and women’s events in the Badminton World Championships since its inception in 1977. Aside from China, the national teams of Indonesia, Denmark, South Korea, Japan, and Spain, have all enjoyed success in recent years. In particular, it’s worth noting that the winner of the women’s singles in 2014, 2015, and 2018, was Spain’s Carolina Marín.

At the time of writing, Japan’s Kento Momota is the top-ranked men’s singles player. He is followed by Shi Yuqi of China and Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. At the top of the women’s singles rankings is Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan. China’s Chen Yufei and Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara are ranked second and third respectively.