Zii Jia confirms participation in Singapore Badminton Open 2022

SINGAPORE: Malaysia's world no. 5 Lee Zii Jia and Indonesia's star shuttlers Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie are part of a world-class men's singles field set to compete in the US$370,000 Singapore Badminton Open.

The Singapore Badminton Open 2022, the largest and most prestigious badminton event in Singapore, is making its return on July 12-17 after a pandemic-enforced two-year hiatus.

According to the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), more than half of the top-ranked male players in the world have registered for the tournament, including Denmark's world no. 1 Viktor Axelsen and world no. 3 Anders Antonsen and Singapore's 10th-ranked Loh Kean Yew.

"Lee, in particular, will be an exciting talent to watch. The 24-year-old is in fine form, having won two titles and making two semi-finals from four events this year," said SBA in a statement issued here yesterday.

SBA said both Malaysia and Indonesia will also be represented by their best men's doubles pairings.

Malaysia's world no. 10 men's pairing of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi will get to test themselves against the very best in Indonesia's world no. 1 duo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and world no. 3 Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan.

"Gideon and Sukamuljo have yet to notch their first win of the year after the pair missed a number of tournaments following Gideon's surgery to correct ankle issues. After winning an impressive 11 titles in the last three years, the pair will be keen to get back to winning ways.

"But if there is one duo who enjoys playing at this year's game, it is Setiawan and Ahsan. The pair are two-time winners of the tournament (2013 and 2018), with Setiawan also picking up a third win when he partnered Markis Kido in 2012," SBA said.

It noted that Indonesia is the most successful nation at the Singapore Badminton Open, winning a whopping 58 titles since 1960, followed by China (53), Malaysia (33) and Singapore (17).

-- BERNAMA