Kunlavut (Thailand) shines during the men’s singles of the Malaysia Open badminton tournament – Photo: BWF
The Malaysia Open, which runs from January 6 to 11, is the Super 1000 tournament that kicks off the BWF Tour year.
Badminton in Southeast Asia reaches a global level.
Badminton is similar to tennis, with a points-based tournament ranking system, but on a slightly smaller scale and name. At the highest level, the four Super 1000 tournaments are the equivalent of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis.
Badminton is the only popular sport in the world where players from Southeast Asia reach the highest level. Two of the four Super 1000 tournaments are hosted by Southeast Asian countries: the Malaysia Open and the Indonesia Open. It should be noted that even major badminton nations, with many high-level players, such as South Korea and Japan, do not have any Super 1000 system tournaments (the other two being organized by China and Great Britain).
Just below the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Open are the Super 750 and 500 tournaments such as Singapore Open (750), Thailand Open (500), Indonesia Masters, Malaysia Masters (500).
Southeast Asia not only has excellent tennis players, but also has a great tournament system. The organization of such tournaments requires solid sporting foundations, including suitable training systems, the level of athletes, commercial viability, attractiveness and a large audience.
The recent performances of coach Kim Sang Sik and his football team, culminating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, have delighted Vietnamese fans. However, the Malaysia Open 2026, currently underway, represents a real professional and high-level challenge.
Badminton may not be able to compete with football in terms of popularity and fervent atmosphere, but from a sporting point of view, the difference between the two is not that big.
Football teams compete in the AFC Asian Under-23 Championship, while Malaysia also hosts the world’s biggest badminton tournament. – Photo: TTO
Will this year be the year of badminton’s breakthrough in Southeast Asia?
Returning to the Malaysia Open 2026, Southeast Asian players put in some great performances. In the men’s singles, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie both reached the semi-finals, with Kunlavut ultimately winning.
In women’s singles, players from Southeast Asia, such as Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) and Putri Wardani (Indonesia), only reached the quarterfinals this year. However, in doubles, Southeast Asia still displayed impressive strength. Malaysia and Indonesia were both represented in the men’s doubles.
Ahead of the Malaysia Open, Southeast Asian tennis players had the opportunity to showcase their talent at the 2025 World Tour Finals, a tournament considered the annual finale of world tennis. As in previous years, the 2025 World Tour Finals brought together the eight best players or pairs in five categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The 16 best singles players and the 48 best doubles players in the world competed in this tournament.
A total of 64 players were in Hangzhou, China, to compete in late December. BWF regulations state that each country can only enter a maximum of two players or pairs per event. Despite this restriction, Southeast Asian badminton was well represented. Thailand had five players, Indonesia eight and Malaysia ten, slightly fewer than China.
Thailand shone at the tournament, with Kunlavut Vitidsard (men’s singles) and Ratchanok Intanon (women’s singles) both reaching the semi-finals. Similarly, Indonesia placed a pair in the men’s doubles semi-finals, and Malaysia qualified two players for the semi-finals, in both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
After a strong performance at the World Tour Finals, Southeast Asian badminton is gearing up for another major event this year: the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. Unlike tennis, badminton has not yet achieved the status of a “fully professional” sport, and Olympic competitions generally have greater significance.
Therefore, Chinese badminton players often take rest periods at major BWF tournaments throughout the year to preserve their energy for the Olympics and Asian Games, where they make their country proud. For example, in the last Asian Games, the Chinese badminton team won four gold medals, while the Southeast Asian teams only won silver and bronze.
An Se Young is too strong.
While the men’s singles and doubles events are extremely competitive, the women’s singles fight is becoming more and more monotonous with the absolute domination of the “queen” An Se Young.
The 23-year-old South Korean player finished 2025 with 11 BWF titles, tying the record for most titles in a single year, held by Kento Momota since 2019. At this year’s Malaysia Open, An Se Young reached the final without major difficulty. She will face China’s Wang Zhiyi in the final.
Source : https://tuoitre.vn/dung-xem-thuong-the-thao-khu-vuc-dong-nam-a-20260110234717399.htm
