Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong–Tee Kai Wun provided the opening-day highlight as the 2026 world badminton season began at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday, powering past Denmark’s Kim Astrup–Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to spearhead a lively start to the PETRONAS Malaysia Open, the Super 1000 season opener.
The world No.35 Malaysians produced a composed and clinical display to oust the Danish world No.10 pair 21-17, 21-18 in just 42 minutes. The victory avenged their Singapore Open quarter-final defeat last year and extended their impressive run at the venue to six consecutive wins, dating back to their Malaysia Masters triumph in 2024.
“I feel happy because we lost a close fight against them in Singapore. This time they also played well and found open spaces, but we managed to outplay them,” said Wei Chong.
Man–Tee will face Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa–Kyohei Yamashita in the second round.
Another headline upset unfolded in men’s singles as World Tour Finals champion Christo Popov bowed out to Hong Kong China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu after a gripping 74-minute contest. Lee, playing his first tournament since March 2024, recovered from a slow start to prevail 13-21, 21-19, 23-21, saving match points in the deciding game. He next meets India’s Lakshya Sen.
Top seed Shi Yu Qi was tested early before easing past Germany’s Rasmus Gemke 23-21, 21-15, while home favourite Lee Zii Jia’s return from injury ended in disappointment. The former All England champion, now ranked world No.144 and competing for the first time since September, fell 12-21, 17-21 to India’s Ayush Shetty.
“I’m still not 100 per cent yet, and I’m not very satisfied with my performance today,” admitted Lee.
In women’s singles, defending champion and world No.1 An Se Young was pushed to the limit by Canada’s Michelle Li before prevailing 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 in a 75-minute battle. The Korean clawed back from 11-5 down in the second game to force a decider.
“The power and strength aren’t really there. I took a short break after the World Tour Finals but I still feel a little tired,” said An.
Fourth seed Chen Yu Fei also advanced, beating Thailand’s Pitchamun Opatniputh to set up a second-round clash with Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
Malaysia enjoyed further success in men’s doubles as world No.7 Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani snapped a two-match losing streak against Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard–Mads Vestergaard, cruising 21-15, 21-13. They will face England’s Ben Lane–Sean Vendy next.
Elsewhere, China’s fourth seeds Liang Wei Keng–Wang Chang were surprisingly eliminated by Japan’s Takuro Hoki–Yugo Kobayashi.
In mixed doubles, Malaysia’s Hoo Pang Ron–Cheng Su Yin claimed their first Super 1000 win at home, upsetting Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen–Alexandra Boje 21-18, 20-22, 21-17. World champions Chen Tang Jie–Toh Ee Wei later thrilled the crowd with a 21-12, 21-17 win over Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah–Felisha Pasaribu, setting up an all-Malaysian second-round clash.
