With entries now closed, the best players in the world from across Asia, namely Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore, have all confirmed their participation at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2023 presented by JK Technology.
Fans can expect top-notch action at the prestigious tournament throughout the week with all the current World No. 1s, along with multiple Tokyo Olympics gold medalists and Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Champions competing when the event takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 6 to 11 June 2023.
Organised by the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), the KFF Singapore Badminton Open is a BWF World Tour Super 750 series event, where players will be battling it out for top honours and a slice of the US$850,000 prize purse and crucial Olympic ranking points.
In the women’s singles category, reigning World No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi (above) has been in impressive form in the past two years, where she claimed numerous top finishes, including back-to-back titles in the BWF World Championships.
Yamaguchi last competed in the Singapore Badminton Open in 2019 and is looking to improve her third-place finish when she returns. The 25-year-old remarked: “I’m excited to return to Singapore after not playing here for the past few years. While I’ve been playing well for the past few months, winning the KFF Singapore Badminton Open will be challenging since so many strong players will be competing.”
Looking to derail Yamaguchi’s title charge will be a strong quartet from China, namely Chen Yu Fei (World No. 3 and 2020 Olympics Champion), He Bing Jiao (World No. 5), Wang Zhi Yi (World No. 7) and Han Yue (World No. 9). Some other big names that will be gunning for the women’s singles crown are South Korea’s An Se Young (World No. 2) and Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying (World No. 4 and 2019 Singapore Badminton Open Champion).
Following the earlier announcements of participation from reigning BWF World Champion Viktor Axelsen, fans can expect some mouth-watering clashes in the men’s singles category, which will feature defending Singapore Badminton Open Champion Anthony Ginting (World No. 2), Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia (right, World No. 4), Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (World No. 5), Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen and local favourite Loh Kean Yew (World No. 7).
China will no doubt be in prime position in the women’s and mixed doubles categories, with the participation of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan (World No. 1 and 2022 BWF World Champions) and Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong (World No. 1) respectively. They will also be joined by fellow compatriots, Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu (Women’s Doubles World No. 3) and Huang Dong Ping and Wang Yi Lyu (Mixed Doubles World No. 3 and 2020 Olympics gold medalists).
The men’s doubles category will also be fiercely contested with the participation of Indonesia’s men’s doubles duo of Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto (World No. 1), Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik (World No. 2 and World Champion), and the evergreen duo of Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan (World No. 3).
The host nation will be represented by local favourite Loh Kean Yew, reigning Commonwealth Games mixed doubles champions Terry Hee and Jessica Tan (below), Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Yeo Jia Min and women’s doubles pair Crystal Wong Jia Ying and Jin Yu Jia.
Hee is looking forward to competing on home soil in front of the local crowd and is hoping their support throughout the week will help him and Tan go all the way in the tournament. He said: “We started competing in the Singapore Badminton Open together since 2016, and it’s always great to play in front of the home support. Our partnership has come a long way since then, and we’re focused on improving and playing better with each tournament. It will be the same for the upcoming KFF Singapore Badminton Open and hopefully, we’ll be able to put on a great performance for our home crowd fans.”
Tickets are available via Ticketmaster, with season ticket pricing ranging from S$120 to S$380 for season tickets.
