Kuala Lumpur, April 24 (IANS): Indian-origin Prakash Vijayanath has been nominated for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Athletes' Commission.

The South African will be vying for the two available spots against Shintaro Ikeda (Japan), Lee Yong Dae (South Korea), Koen Ridder (Netherlands) and Zhang Nan (China).

Vijaynath was born in India but moved to South Africa when he was four. He represents the African nation in both singles and doubles competition.

China's Tang Yuanting was the lone female among six nominees for three places and therefore automatically becomes a Commission member.

Election rules stipulate the three positions will be determined by the male with the highest number of votes, the female with the highest number of votes, and the person with the next highest number of votes irrespective of the gender.

Athletes competing in the upcoming Sudirman Cup in Dongguan will vote on May 12 at the competition venue to decide who will take the other two seats.

One of the newly-constituted Commission’s first duties will be to determine a chair and that individual will sit on the BWF Council.

The BWF Athletes’ Commission was established in 2008. Its purpose is to represent the views of athletes to the BWF Council. The chair of the BWF Athletes’ Commission is a full voting member of the Council and has the responsibility of advising the Council on matters relevant to athletes.