Who won the first BWF World Championships women's singles title in 1977?

Lene Køppen won the first BWF World Championships women's singles title in 1977.

The inaugural World Championships were held in Malmö, Sweden, in 1977. Denmark's Lene Køppen defeated her compatriot and fellow badminton great Anne Skov in the women's singles final, becoming the first world champion in that discipline.

The event was organized by the International Badminton Federation, which later became the Badminton World Federation. The tournament established a separate global championship for individual players, complementing team events such as the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup.

The 1977 championship is also remembered because several early world titles went to players from Denmark and Indonesia. Lene Køppen's victory is sometimes mixed up with later landmark champions such as China's Li Lingwei or Indonesia's Susi Susanti. Those players won major titles in later periods, but Køppen holds the distinction of being the inaugural women's singles world champion.