As the pre-Olympic Games season unfolds, we are being treated this week to a gathering of the best of the best in badminton as the KFF Singapore Badminton Open commences.
After the previous weeks' TOYOTA Thailand Open and PERODUA Malaysia Masters, we are highly anticipating the return of the biggest players in a proper way. With only months to go before the Olympics, these tournaments might give us a clear indication of who will be the biggest challenger for the 2024 Olympic Gold.
Women's Singles
With a 15-match unbeaten run and three back-to-back-to-back titles for Spain's Carolina Marin, the expectations for her are certainly high. However, she will face extremely tough competition from Chen Yu Fei, An Se Young, Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi, and Malaysia Masters winner Han Yue. When the best of the best come together like this, it is always difficult to predict the winner. Nonetheless, it will be fascinating to see these stars back on the court competing against each other after a month away.
Men's Singles
Viktor Axelsen's win in Malaysia was a welcome one after a series of early losses that disappointed the world's number one ranked player. In this tournament, he will face the best of the best, including Shi Yu Qi, his countryman Anders Antonsen, Jonathan Christie, Kodai Naraoka, Anthony Ginting, and Prannoy.
Women's Doubles
Right from Round 1, we are treated to a top European match when two of the best women's pairs, Margot Lambert/ Anne Tran and Maiken Fruergaard/ Sara Thygesen, face each other. They previously faced each other twice at the 2024 European Championships, winning one match each. The Stoeva sisters, who secured a bronze placement in last week's Malaysia Masters, will face Chinese Taipei's Yi-Ting Hung / Yu Hsuan Lee.
Mixed Doubles
The defending KFF Singapore Champions, Mathias Christiansen/ Alexandra Bøje, will surely hope to replicate last year's victory. However, considering their lack of great tournament results since their impressive victory last year, it would be very surprising if they managed to pull it off again.
Men's Doubles
In the Men's Doubles category, we have Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Christo Popov/ Toma Junior Popov, and Daniel Lundgaard/ Mads Vestergaard competing, as well as Bjarne Geiss/ Jan Colin Voelker, Alexander Dunn/ Adam Hall, and Rasmus Kjær/ Frederik Søgaard. Lundgaard/ Vestergaard will face the world's number one ranked pair, Rankireddy/ Shetty. The Popov brothers will face China's Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi, and Astrup/ Rasmussen will face Dunn/ Hall for an all-European epic clash.