The 2024 Sands China Ltd. Macau Open Badminton Championships is set to be an exciting tournament with new partnerships, rising stars, and the return of former world No. 1 Yuki Fukushima. Fukushima, whose last tournament was the Badminton Asia Championships in April, will be partnering with Atsumi Miyazaki. This will be Miyazaki’s first tournament in five years and her first senior international event. The pair will face a tough challenge in the opening round against eighth seeds Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu.
Another player to watch is rising star Tomoka Miyazaki, who was the women’s singles runner-up at the 2024 China Open. She is seeded fourth in Macau and will face Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ling in the first round. The women’s singles draw also features a strong contingent from Thailand, including top seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan, second seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, third seed Ratchanok Intanon, and Lalinrat Chaiwan.
In the men’s singles, Hong Kong China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu and Ng Ka Long Angus are the top seeds. Sixth seed Kidambi Srikanth is also a prominent name in the draw, and he is joined by three other Indian players in the bottom quarter: Ayush Shetty, Sankar Subramanian, and Chirag Sen.
The tournament has seen several withdrawals and promotions due to various reasons. In the men’s singles, Orijit Chaliha and Abhishek Yeligar of India have withdrawn, with Larry Pong of England and Keita Makino of Japan promoted in their place. In the women’s singles, Malvika Bansod of India and Vivien Sandorhazi of Hungary have withdrawn, with Akari Kurihara of Japan and Huang Ching Ping of Chinese Taipei promoted.
There have also been withdrawals in the doubles categories. In the men’s doubles, Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami of Japan have withdrawn. In the women’s doubles, Laksika Kanlaha and Phataimas Muenwong of Thailand have withdrawn. And in the mixed doubles, several pairs have withdrawn, leading to the promotion of several pairs from Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Hong Kong China.
The Macau Open promises to be an exciting tournament with plenty of thrilling matches. Badminton fans around the world will be eagerly watching to see how the new partnerships and rising stars perform on the big stage.
