KUALA LUMPUR: The Super 500 Malaysia Masters on May 21-26 presents the best opportunity for local shuttlers to end the drought on home soil.
The last time a Malaysian player clinched top prize on home turf was through Lee Chong Wei at the 2018 Malaysia Open.
As for the Malaysia Masters, mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing won the title back in 2017, when it was still a Grand Prix Gold event.
This year, a total of 21 Malaysian players are set to compete, with seemingly bright prospects in the men's doubles event.
This comes after several world-class pairs opted to give the competition a miss.
Malaysia's former world champions, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, will be the second seeds behind Denmark's world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the men's doubles.
BAM president, Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, expressed hope that the national players will showcase their best performances for the fans at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
Norza said the competition is expected to be tight in the men's singles event.
"The Malaysia Masters continues to offer something exciting for fans and serves as the best platform for our national players to prepare for the upcoming Olympics.
"Even though this tournament takes place after the Olympic qualification, it still attracts top players like world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia), Anders Antonsen (Denmark), and Thailand's reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn because they are all still in the race for good seeding at the Olympics," he said.
Norza was speaking at the launch ceremony for the Malaysia Masters at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara on Monday.
Also present were the president and chief executive officer of Perodua, Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad and BAM secretary general Datuk Kenny Goh.
Perodua is the main sponsor for the Malaysia Masters, which offers a total prize money of US$420,000 (RM2.01 million).
