Badminton: World's best shuttlers face-off at Li-Ning Singapore Open

SINGAPORE: This year's Li-Ning Singapore Open has attracted some of the world's best shuttlers mainly because ranking points for Olympic qualification are at stake.

Big names competing include Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan from China and India's top women shuttler Saina Nehwal. But Malaysia's world number one male player, Lee Chong Wei is giving the Singapore event a miss.

It was a good 2010 for India's Saina Nehwal, who won three Super Series titles, including the Li-Ning Singapore Open women's singles event.

She is back to defend her title and the world number four said she is expecting a stiff challenge from Chinese players.

She said: "I am really working on my strokes, little bit more on my movement, so that I move faster against them. Because (at any point should) you move slower or you take it easy, you will lose the match. So I need to be very quick on the courts, so I am working on that speed and a lot of my strokes."

Defending men's singles champion, Sony Dwi Kuncoro from Indonesia and China's Lin Dan did not show up for the media conference on Monday. No reason was given for the Indonesian's no show, while Lin Dan cited a stomach upset for giving the media session a miss.

Last year's losing finalist in the men's singles, Boonsak Ponsana, agrees with Nehwal about the tougher competition this year. The Thai, who won the Singapore singles title in 2007, also thinks the prize money can be better to promote the sport.

Veteran Danish shuttler Peter Gade agreed and added that the Badminton World Federation can learn from the success of the Chinese.

He said: "The BWF's job is to transfer what they see and what they do with the Chinese in China to other countries. You have a huge interest for badminton. When we play in almost every country, if you have the right players, all the best players, a lot of spectators. So it should be possible."

Host Singapore's best chance lies with the women's doubles pair of Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei, who are the defending champions.

With a stellar line-up of players competing this year, organisers are expecting more fans to show up. Already all 4,000 season tickets and 90 per cent of the premier seats have been sold out, even before the competition starts on Tuesday.