The Singapore Badminton Open 2026 returns to the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 26 to 31 May 2026, and the field announced this week is the most loaded the city has hosted in years. World No. 12 Loh Kean Yew leads a five-strong home contingent, every reigning BWF World No. 1 has confirmed entry, and the Super 750 event boasts a US$1 million prize pool.
What is the Singapore Badminton Open 2026?
The Singapore Badminton Open 2026 is the city’s annual stop on the HSBC BWF World Tour, and at Super 750 status it sits one rung below the World Tour Finals and Super 1000 events. That ranking matters because it locks in mandatory entries for the world’s top players. For Singapore fans, it is the only week of the year when the entire global circuit lands at Kallang.
The tournament runs Tuesday 26 May through Sunday 31 May, with qualifying earlier in the week and the finals on Sunday 31 May. All five disciplines — men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles — will be contested. Tickets, which went on sale via Ticketmaster SG and the official tournament partners, sold strongly during the early-bird window.
Loh Kean Yew leads the home challenge
Loh Kean Yew, the 2021 world champion and Singapore’s most decorated active shuttler, has had an uneven 2026 by his own standards. A semi-final exit at the Asia Championships in mid-April, where he fell short of a podium finish, marked another reminder of just how thin the men’s singles field has become at the top. He returns home as world No. 12, drawn to face a packed top half of the men’s singles bracket likely to feature world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China.
Joining Loh in the men’s singles is the rising Jason Teh Jia Heng, who has been rebuilding his confidence under head coach Kim Ji-hyun’s set-up at the Singapore Sports Hub. The Singapore Badminton Association confirmed both names this week as part of its five-player contingent for the Singapore Badminton Open 2026.
Source: Singapore Badminton Association official website (singaporebadminton.org.sg) — Coach Kim with Jason Teh Jia Heng and Loh Kean Yew at Singapore’s national training set-up.
Yeo Jia Min carries the women’s singles hopes
In the women’s singles, Yeo Jia Min returns to the Singapore Indoor Stadium for what is now the most consistent stage of her professional life. Yeo broke a long title drought at the German Open earlier in the season and has reached the round of 16 or better at every major tournament since. Her draw is brutal — world No. 1 An Se-young of Korea heads a list of contenders that also includes Wang Zhi Yi of China and India’s PV Sindhu — but her recent form gives Singapore reason to believe a deep run is possible.
Yeo’s task at the Singapore Badminton Open 2026 is not just about results. As the country’s senior women’s singles representative, she will set the tone for the home crowd over the opening days and absorb most of the local-media attention. The Singapore Badminton Association said selection was confirmed off the back of her ranking points run since January, with no late changes anticipated.
Doubles: Wesley Koh and Kubo Junsuke fly the flag
The men’s doubles pairing of Wesley Koh Eng Keat and Kubo Junsuke completes the Singapore line-up. Their qualification has been one of the quieter stories of the home season — the duo have been steady performers on the lower World Tour rungs and earned their place at the Singapore Badminton Open 2026 through accumulated ranking points rather than a wildcard.
Source: Singapore Badminton Association official website (singaporebadminton.org.sg) — Wesley Koh Eng Keat and Kubo Junsuke during a national-team session.
Their first-round draw is unforgiving. Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho are the world No. 1 pairing and remain the favourites for the title. Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, the Olympic bronze medallists, are also entered. For Koh and Kubo, even reaching the second round would represent a meaningful return on their pre-tournament training block.
Why the Singapore Badminton Open 2026 matters
For Singapore sport, the Singapore Badminton Open 2026 is more than a single tournament. The Sports Hub still gets its loudest weekday crowds when badminton’s elite play in front of a home audience, and the event is one of the few homegrown calendar fixtures that consistently reaches a global broadcast audience. Tournament organisers expect close to 60,000 spectators across the week, with the men’s and women’s singles finals on Sunday 31 May as the headline session.
The wider context for Singapore’s contingent is the build towards the SEA Games in late 2026 and the Commonwealth Games qualification window. A strong showing at the Singapore Badminton Open 2026 — even a quarter-final or two — would keep funding and selection conversations on the right side for both Loh and Yeo. For more on Singapore’s recent badminton form, see our coverage of the Asia Championships round-up, and read about the wider local picture in our Lion City Sailors title-charge story. More from our Sports section.
