By Marc Lim (The Straits Times)

THE postponed Yonex-Sunrise Singapore Open has been rescheduled for Aug 18 to 24 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Originally slated for June 16 to 22, the Singapore Badminton Association postponed the five-star Grand Prix event after fears that some nations would avoid it because of the Sars outbreak.

However, the SBA took their cue from the International Badminton Federation, who announced last month that the World Championships in Birmingham, England, would be held from July 28 to Aug 3. The event, originally scheduled for May, was postponed for a similar reason.

Said SBA's secretary-general Steven Yeo yesterday: 'The Singapore Open is the first Grand Prix event after the World Championships. It will also serve as a qualifier for the 2004 Olympics. This makes it an extremely important tournament for participants to attend and also do well in.'

The Singapore Open is the first of three back-to-back Grand Prix events in the region, preceding the Indonesian Open (Aug 25 to 31) and Malaysian Open (Sept 1 to 7), both of which had also been rescheduled.

Boasting a prize purse of US$170,000 (S$300,000), the event is likely to attract the sport's biggest names, including those from Europe and Sars-affected nations like China.

Singapore's Ronald Susilo, who was second last year, will be hoping to go one better and also start accumulating enough points for an Olympic spot. Only 29 slots are available for the Athens Games next year.

Said Susilo: 'I have been training hard over the past few months and I hope to do well in this tournament.'

Taken from Worldbadminton.net
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10/06/2003 : The International Badminton Federation (IBF) is pleased to announce the rescheduling of the Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia Open World Grand Prix events.

The three South-East Asian tournaments, due to have been held in late June/early July, were postponed last month because of the continuing nervousness of players and officials to travel and mingle with others from SARS-affected areas.

Following the downward trend of SARS cases and the rescheduling of the QI IBF World Championships (28 July – 3 August), organisers of the Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia Opens have followed suit and have agreed the following new dates for their events with IBF:

· 5* Singapore Open (US$170,000): week ending 24 August
· 5* Indonesia Open (US$170,000): week ending 31 August
· 4* Malaysia Open (US$120,000): week ending 7 September

These tournaments comprise a key part of the international badminton calendar, and contribute significant world ranking points, particularly during the year-long Olympic Qualification Period which began on 1 May.

I think this 5-star event will be the one to watch among the 3 IBF tournaments around that time frame, namely Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia Opens. China and Malaysia have confirmed sending their strongest team and traditionally Indonesia has been also sending its best. I don't see why other badminton power house will let their players skip Singapore Open, just doesn't make sense.
Lets hope the Malaysia Open does not take the back seat due to this event.