The Barcelona Spain Masters 2020 marks the return of the BWF World Tour today following a three-week break. Let’s look at some interesting facts about the tournament as it enters its third year.

• Its venue, Pavello de la Vall d’Hebron, hosted the basque pelota demonstration and volleyball preliminaries at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.
• Denmark are the most successful team with four titles.
• They have also had the highest number of representatives in the finals. Last year’s men’s and women’s singles title matches were all-Danish affairs.
• Thailand have played the most finals (2) without winning. Men’s singles top seed Suppanyu Avihingsanon lost to Rasmus Gemke while Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit fell to men’s doubles rivals Kim Gi Jung/Lee Yong Dae in 2018.
• Mark Caljouw holds the unwanted record of being the highest seed to crash out in the first round. The Dutchman was seeded third when he was beaten by unfancied Victor Svendsen in 2018.
• Men’s singles player Viktor Axelsen (2019) and women’s doubles shuttlers Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (2018) are the only top seeds to have won their events.
• Mia Blichfeldt remains the sole shuttler to have played in consecutive finals.
• Interestingly, the competition is yet to see its biggest local star in action. Women’s singles Olympic champ Carolina Marin withdrew in 2018 and did not participate last year.

Standout Stat: It has never had a Spanish winner. The furthest a Spaniard has gone is the quarterfinals – Beatriz Corrales (women’s singles) in 2018 and Pablo Abian (men’s singles) in 2019.