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Five things we learned from the Malaysia Open

The Malaysia Open badminton tournament ended yesterday at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

It returned after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Malaysia Open is a Super 750 tournament but will be upgraded to a Super 1,000 event, offering US$1.25 million in prize money, beginning next year.

This year’s tournament marked the first time that oil and gas company Petronas came in as the title sponsor.

In March, Petronas and its subsidiary, Petronas Dagangan Berhad, signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to help enhance the training and preparation of the national players in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and to contribute to BAM’s overall development programmes.

Here are five things that we learned about the Malaysia Open.

GREAT ATMOSPHERE

The decision to have a Malaysia Festival outside Axiata Arena was a stroke of genius. Among the activities were DIY batik, ‘live’ music and fashion shows, dance and cultural performances, and even a wide array of food, including durian, and a non-halal section.

A performer dancing at the Malaysia Festival. Image: Twentytwo13

Petronas even had a covered viewing deck that allowed fans to ‘lepak’ (chill out) or have their meals while watching the action on a huge screen. It was as though you were inside the stadium.

Although it is no longer a requirement to wear face masks outdoors, it was good to see that most fans still did so.

COVID-19 IS STILL AROUND

The tournament was under the Badminton World Federation’s Phase 3 of the Covid-19 protocol, which meant players and officials were not required to carry out a Covid-19 test, and there was no division of zones.

However, a couple of players, several BAM officials, and some volunteers, tested positive.

NEW GENERATION OF FANS

The demographics of badminton fans have changed, with more teens, and those in their 20s and 30s, turning up at the venue.

Although many were interested in taking selfies and videos for their social media accounts, they also had plenty of disposable income, as evident from the long queues at the promotional booths selling the official merchandise from Petronas and Yonex.

A Petronas staff, who wanted to be known only as Mat, said their official T-shirts, sold at RM59.90-RM69.90 each and came in four colours, were its biggest seller.

LONG QUEUES, ‘RESERVED SEATS’ SAGA AND PARKING NIGHTMARE

Events management company, KH Worldwide, did a lot of things right for the Malaysia Open, but it was far from perfect.

On June 30, the organiser issued an apology to ticket holders following seating issues at the stadium that caused an uproar. Supporters had paid between RM60 and RM85 for “premium section” tickets, only for their spots to be taken up by a large group of spectators, who had supposedly “reserved” the seats in advance.

The saga also forced the Youth and Sports Ministry to issue a clarification. In a July 1 statement, the ministry said neither the Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, nor his deputy, Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, gave any instructions regarding the ticketing or seating arrangements.

The organiser should have also set up more entry points to ensure fans could get to their seats on time. Either that, or get a better ticketing system to make entry quicker.

On Saturday morning, the queue was nearly 1km long. That prompted BAM to tell the organiser that they should open the gates earlier.

Although out of its scope of responsibilities, parking was RM10 per entry. On non-event days, it is only RM2.

Many parked indiscriminately, and getting out of the parking zones was a nightmare. It took nearly 30 minutes to get out of Parking Zone E, as there was only one way in and one way out.

The same situation was seen in the other parking zones.

Perhaps we were lucky that public transport in the Klang Valley is free until July 16, as many fans opted for that option. It would have been worse, if they all drove.

NO MALAYSIAN WINNERS, AGAIN

The wait for another Malaysian men’s singles player – besides Datuk Lee Chong Wei – to win the title, enters its second decade.

Lee won the title 12 times – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

The last Malaysian besides Lee to win the title, was James Chua, in 2002.

The last Malaysians to win the men’s doubles title were Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah (2014). It is worse for the other categories, with no winners since the 1960s.

Rosalind Ang was the last Malaysian to win the women’s singles title, in 1965. A year earlier, she partnered with Teoh Siew Yong, for the women’s doubles crown.

In the mixed doubles, Teoh teamed up with the legendary Tan Aik Huang, to win gold in 1963.

It’s sad that the wait for glory on home soil continues.

Malaysia Open 2022 finals results

Men’s singles
Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) bt Kento Momota (Japan) 21-4, 21-7

Women’s singles
Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) bt Chen Yu Fei (China) 21-15, 13-21, 21-16

Men’s doubles 
Takuro Hoki-Yuho Kobayashi (Japan) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Adrianto (Indonesia) 24-22, 16-21, 21-9

Women’s doubles
Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Indonesia) bt Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu (China) 21-18, 12-21, 21-19

Mixed doubles
Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (China) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand) 21-13, 21-18