The Petronas Malaysia Open is back this year, from 10 until 15 January. The tournament will be held at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
This BWF event was hosted for the first time in 1937 and took place 65 times since. The former World Tour 750 tournament was upgraded to a World Tour 1000 event from 2023 onwards.
The best players in the world participate annually in the Malaysia Open and this year is no exception. Viktor Axelsen, number one in the world, was the men’s singles winner of last year’s edition. This year, the Dane is top-seeded and will face compatriot Rasmus Gemke in the first round.
Frenchman Toma Junior Popov will play against Japan’s Kento Momota and could face the winner of Axelsen/Gemke in the second round.
In women’s singles, the Dane Line Kjaersfeldt is going to play against Japan’s number one-seeded Akane Yamaguchi. One of them will later face either Kirsty Gilmour, from Scotland, or Busanan Ongbamrungphan, from Thailand.
The Danish duo Kim Astrup/ Anders Rasmussen is the sixth seeded in men’s doubles and will play against the Japanese pair Keiichiro Matsui/ Yoshinori Takeuchi. Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, from England, are also in the race and will face Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi, from China.
In women’s doubles, a lot of different European duos are playing: Debora Jille/ Cheryl Seinen (Netherlands); Margot Lambert/ Anne Tran (France); Gabriela Stoeva/ Stefani Stoeva (Bulgaria); Linda Efler/ Isabel Lohau (Germany); Chloe Birch/ Lauren Smith (England); Clara Azurmendi/ Beatriz Corrales (Spain) and Julie Macpherson/ Ciara Torrance (Scotland).
The French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue are representing Europe among the seeded players of the mixed doubles competition. In the first round, the duo will play against Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Mentari, from Indonesia.
Stay tuned and watch all of the action
live here from tomorrow on.