19-year-old prodigy Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, who made history in 2013 by becoming the youngest female badminton world champion ever, believes the upcoming Dubai World Superseries Finals will rank as one of the toughest tournaments this year.

Only the highest-ranked eight shuttlers in the world have qualified for the seventh edition of the Superseries Finals, which will be staged at the Hamdan Sports Complex from December 17-21.

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Intanon will be among those vying for a share of the $1million prize money on offer in this edition of the tournament.

“This tournament is very important for me. If I win it, I will get my confidence back to the level it was at last year, when I won the World Championship,” said Intanon.

Apart from Intanon, the other competitors in the fray include Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan of China, Saina Nehwal of India and Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun.

In the absence of World No1 and reigning champion Li Xuerui, both Shixian and Yihan will be favourites alongisde Intanon.

Intanon, who has been ranked as highly as second in the world in the overall rankings earlier this year, said: “All the players here are very good, and even if I have beaten some of them before, it doesn’t automatically mean I will do so again.

“I must fight hard from the start. I want to do well as I did not qualify for the Finals last year, so I’m happy to be in the top eight this year and I want to perform my best."

Earlier this year, she became the first recipient of the Fox Sports Asian Sporting Icon award, and will be one of the star players to watch out for at the Hamdan Sports Complex.

Tickets for December’s BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals are on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae, Prices start from AED 20, with those under 18 years entering for free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. For more information about the event go to http://www.destinationdubai.ae/.