Chong Wei, Lin Dan showdown in Kuching?

March 1, 2017

(From left to right) Chew, Mohamed Al Amin, Abdul Karim, Abdul Aziz and others displaying the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open 2017 banner yesterday.

KUCHING: The clash of badminton titans Malaysia’s Datuk Lee Chong Wei and China’s Lin Dan is a distinct possibility in the Celcom Axiata Malaysian Open to be held in Sarawak Stadium, Kuching from April 4-9.

The tournament is a top tier World Super Series event in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) calendar

The US$600,000 total prize money is expected to attract top 10 players in the world including Malaysia’s crack doubles and mixed doubles pairs of Tan Wee Kiong-Goh V Shem and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying.

“We thank Badminton Association Malaysia (BAM) and BWF for giving Sarawak the opportunity to host this prestigious event … We hope no one has pre-match injuries and the top seeds will not miss the game,” said Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at a press conference here yesterday.

A total of 351 players from Malaysia (46 players), Denmark (24), Korea (17), China (40), Hong Kong (16), Chinese Taipei (37), Germany (3), Thailand (20), England (11), Indonesia (53), India (32), France (1), Japan (24), Spain (1), USA (1), Singapore (7), Bulgaria (3), Russia (3), Egypt (6), Australia (6) are due to vie for honours.

Abdul Karim called on Sarawakians to grab the opportunity to watch world class badminton during the tournament which will also be shown live on Astro.

Tickets will be available from March 6. Seats are free on April 4. Ticket price is RM20 per person on April 5, RM30 on April 6, RM40 on April 7, RM50 on April 8 and RM60 on April 9.

Season ticket from April 4 to 9 is RM175.

Students aged 18 and below can buy the tickets at half price (for April 5 and 6 only).

There will be further discount of 20 per cent from the listed price for early birds who buy the tickets from March 6-20. Tickets are sold online at ‘Ticketpro’.

For more information, fans can go to www.badmintonmalaysiasopen.com.

Also present at yesterday’s press conference were BAM acting president Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Al Amin Abdul Majid, BAM general manager Lawrence Chew Si Hock and Sarawak Badminton Association president Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Husain.