Malaysia Open facts, winners, and history

The Malaysia Open is part of the BWF World Tour Super Series of tournaments. It was previously a Super 750 tournament but was upgraded to a Super 1000 tournament in 2023.

> See the most recent Malaysia Open results here <

Here are some fast facts about the Malaysia Open badminton tournament.

The history of the Malaysia Open Super Series Tournament

The first Malaysia Open tournament took place in 1937. There was no competition from 1942 – 1946 (World War 2), from 1969 – 1982, and in 2020 (due to Covid19).

From 2007 to 2017 it was known as the Malaysia Super Series. From 2018 to 2022 it was one of five BWF Tour Super Series 750 events. From 2023 the tournament has been upgraded to become a BWF Super Series 1000.

The tournament has taken place in Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang, Selangor, and Kuantan. Most recently it was held at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

BAM – the Malaysia Badminton Association is the organizer of the tournament. The association was founded in 1964. Prior to that, an association existed in Malaysia – it was founded by the provinces of Perak, Penang, Selangor, Johore, and Singapore.

Get the Badmintonspeak newsletter for more badminton facts

Past winners of the Malaysia Open

Sidek brothers Jalani and Razik won 3 times

Jalani and Razik, two of the five Sidek brothers from Malaysia won Malaysia Open men’s doubles 3 times.

Many former winners of the tournament went on to become badminton legends or, failing that, highly accomplished fixtures on the badminton tour. The most recent winners in men’s singles were Viktor Axelsen and Lin Dan.

See all winners in the table below. See a calendar of all BWF Super Series tournaments here

Facts about Malaysia

Malaysia is a multi-ethnical country in South East Asia. The country has a population of over 33 million of which over 22% are of Chinese descent. The official language is Malay – also known as Malaysia Bahasa, but English is also widely spoken.

The country is linked to Singapore by a narrow causeway and a bridge. It also has land borders with Thailand, Brunei, and Indonesia.

Lee Chong Wei won 12 times

Legendary Malaysian men’s singles player Lee Chong Wei won the Malaysian Open a total of 12 times. His first title win was in 2008 and his last in 2018. Impressive!

Badminton in Malaysia

The Badminton Association (BAM) of Malaysia’s vision is for badminton to

“be a vibrant and popular sport in Malaysia that contributes towards nation-building and social development by reaching out to all Malaysians in its pursuit of glory for the country.”

BAM refers to badminton as the most beloved sport in Malaysia. One of their objectives is to have a big pool of world-class players. Another is to lift the standard of Malaysian women players to that of China and Korea.

In 2015, badminton became the number 1 sport in Malaysia based on international performance results. (source)

Malaysia has produced a significant amount of top badminton players throughout the years. What’s more, many Malaysian-born badminton players have gone on to compete for Singapore. One example of that is Loh Kean Yew.

> See a PDF presentation of the Malaysia badminton system here (developed by Erica Khoo Pei Shan)

> Learn more about BAM – Badminton Association of Malaysia here

All winners of Malaysia Open 1937 – 2022

Past Malaysia Open winners include a host of badminton superstars and badminton legends. You may not know the names of many of the early winners, but they deserve special recognition. After all, they helped make the sport of badminton what it is today.

Click the columns to sort – or use the search box to find a specific badminton player.