Maybank Malaysia Badminton Open 2012 Event Program
Start Times
The tournament will be held from 10th to 15th January 2012 (Tuesday to Sunday). The start times for each day of the tournament will be:
Tuesday 9AM: Qualifying Rounds
Wednesday 9AM: Round 1
Updated Times:
Thursday 2PM: Round 2
Friday 5PM: Quarter Finals
Saturday 11AM: Semi Finals
Sunday 1PM: FINAL
You should take note that the start times are subject to change at the organisers’ discretion.
I’m not sure why is the quarter finals scheduled to start at 3pm in the afternoon – this is not a usual time.
In most instances, the quarter finals of badminton tournaments are usually in the evening. This allows people who are working to make it on time.
However, having the quarter finals starting earlier at 3pm is a good thing for the players.
If the quarter finals start at 6pm, it most likely would end at around 12am!
Players proceeding to the semi finals the next day might need to rest and recover. And perhaps a short session with the physiologist. By the time they get to rest, it would be 1 or 2am.
So maybe Badminton Association of Malaysia took the players’ interest into account for the quarter finals.
Location
The Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 will be held at Putra Stadium, which is situated at the National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil.
The stadium is one of the many buildings in the Sports Complex. You might have trouble looking for it if you’re not familiar with the place.
A good way is to follow the crowd as you reach because the only reason they’ll be at the National Complex during these dates is to watch the Malaysian Super Series.
Just in case you think you’ll get lost, click here for the location of the Putra Stadium.
Preliminary Highlights and Some Interesting Facts
The Badminton Malaysia Open 2012 is an OSIM BWF World Super Series event and 2012 will be the second season of the World Series.
We promised you some badminton drama in our Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 Announcement page, so here it is.
During the first season of the World Super Series in 2011, top badminton players from around the world battled so hard to win those precious BWF ranking points and of course, the prize money!
We witnessed the fall of legends and rise of new stars.
The Malaysia Super Series 2012 marks the start of the season and merely brings forward all the badminton drama of last year.
1 year ago at the Proton Malaysia Open 2011, the current world no.1 won the gold medal AGAIN! This year, it will be Chong Wei’s 7th time defending his Malaysian Open title.
Is he able to secure his 8th championship gold at the 2012 Malaysian Open? Will Lin Dan, his greatest opponent and nemesis, walks in and destroy the Malaysian’s goal?
There is a pretty interesting rumour about Lin Dan at the annual Malaysia Open. In the men singles final at the 2006 occasion, it was Lin Dan v Lee Chong Wei.
It was the final game and ‘Super Dan’ was at match point 20-13. The new badminton scoring rules has already been applied in 2006, which means that the ‘service over’ rule has been abolished and one point will be offered to each rally.
It was almost impossible for Chong Wei to win 7 consecutive rally points to obtain a deuce. Yet the world no.1 shocked his fans by getting a deuce at 20-20, and then winning the championship gold in the end.
You can imagine how Lin Dan felt at that moment. He was up by 7 points but did not manage to win it. Since 2006, we never see Lin Dan playing at the finals of the Malaysia Open. Last year at 2011, he attended the tournament but walked off at the quarter finals with a controversial stomach pain excuse.
Some said that he refuses to face Chong Wei in the semi finals due to the 2006 phobia, while others claimed that he was giving a chance for his team mate Chen Long, to excel in his career. What in fact is the truth?
Lin Dan is attending the Malaysian Super Series 2012, and Lee Chong Wei is most likely to make his way to the final again. What would Lin Dan do this time? Are we able to witness a Lin Dan v Lee Chong Wei in this tournament?
Click here to read on the season wrap up of the OSIM BWF World Super Series 2011. Over there, you’ll read on the drama that has been going on in the world of badminton over 2011.
Prize Money and Championships
The prize money pool for this year’s Malaysian Super Series is USD 400,000.
The prize money will be distributed in accordance to the BWF regulations.
Category | Champion ($USD) | Runner Up ($USD) |
Men Singles | 30,000 | 15,200 |
Women Singles | 30,000 | 15,200 |
Men Doubles | 31,600 per pair | 15,200 per pair |
Women Doubles | 31,600 per pair | 15,200 per pair |
Mixed Doubles | 31,600 per pair | 15,200 per pair |
The remaining will be allocated to quarter finals players and those who made their ways to the last 16 rounds.
Previous Winners and Defending Champions
Men Singles: Lee Chong Wei (MAS)
Women Singles: Wang Shi Xian (CHN)
Men Doubles: Chai Biao/Guo Zhengdong (CHN)
Women Doubles: Tian Qing/Zhao Yun Lei (CHN)
Mixed Doubles: He Han Bin/Ma Jin (CHN)
As you can see, the Chinese dominated the finals of the 2011 Malaysian Open. China almost had a clean sweep of titles.
Some Snapshots before the Tournament
Training Sessions
Tournament Courts
Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 Announcement & how to get tickets
Tell me what you think!
What do you think about what you just read? Leave me a comment below.