Players sought to qualify for the finals through the BWF’s "Race to Guangzhou" series, which concluded with the Gwangju Korea Masters on November 24.

A maximum of two players and parings from a nation could qualify for each of the five events at the Tianhe Gymnasium, while the reigning world champions automatically qualify for the event due to take place between December 11 and 15. 

India’s world champion P.V. Sindhu will seek to defend the women’s singles title she won last year.

She is set to face competition from top seed Chen Yu Fei of China, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and the Japanese representatives Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara.

Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, China’s He Bing Jiao and Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan complete the qualifiers for the event.

Kento Momota will begin as favourite to win the men’s singles event, which they Japanese star last achieved in 2015.

He defended his world title earlier this season and topped the BWF World Tour rankings.

Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie and China’s Chen Long complete the top four seeds.

Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei and the Danish duo Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen have also qualified for the men’s singles competition.

China’s Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen will hope to defend the men’s doubles title they earned last year.

Their main rivals are expected to be Indonesia’s world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

Last year’s women’s doubles champions and Rio 2016 gold medallists Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi missed out on qualification as the third ranked Japanese pairing.

Their compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota topped the World Tour rankings, followed by world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara.

Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping of China will begin as the defending champions in the mixed doubles competition.

Their team-mate and world champions Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong are also among the qualifiers.

The players will compete for the sport’s largest prize pool of $1.5 million.

Guangzhou is due to host the end of season event until the end of 2021.

The event will conclude the second year in the partnership between the Badminton World Federation and its principal global partner and title sponsor of the World Tour, HSBC.

The tournament draw is scheduled to take place on December 9.

The BWF’s Player of the Year Awards will also be announced at their annual Gala Dinner on the same day.