Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Archivbild: epa/Rajat Gupta
BANGKOK: Thailand’s badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn started the new year with a milestone and won a tournament in the highest Super 1000 category for the first time on January 11, 2026 at the Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur.
The world number two decided the final against defending champion and world number one Shi Yuqi from China after a hard-fought first set (23:21), before the Chinese had to retire due to injury in the second round when the score was 1:6.
Kunlavut collected around $91,500 in prize money for his success and made history as the first Thai winner in the men’s singles of the prestigious tournament. With his eighth World Tour title, the 23-year-old has now won tournaments at all four levels of the BWF World Tour and underlined his ambitions for the 2026 season, in which he is targeting all four Super 1000 events.
In the women’s category, South Korea’s world champion An Se-Young continued her dominance and won her third Malaysia Open triumph in a row with a final victory over Wang Zhiyi of China, while the doubles titles were largely secured by favorites from China and South Korea.
