Who will win 2025 Malaysia Open badminton tournament in Lee Zii Jia's absence?
Follow the action live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com in selected territories as the world's top badminton players battle for supremacy in Kuala Lumpur, 7-12 January.
Badminton
Who will step up to win the 2025 Malaysia Open in badminton?
Home fans were disappointed when their star men's singles player Lee Zii Jia announced days before the tournament that he would not participate due to an ankle injury.
However, the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist's absence provides an opportunity for a stacked rest of the field to claim victory in the nation's capital of Kuala Lumpur from 7-12 January.
The top players to watch out for in the men's singles are two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen - seeded fourth - and top seed Shi Yu Qi from the People's Republic of China.
Axelsen's fellow Dane Anders Antonsen is the second seed while Indonesian veteran Jonatan Christie is third. Elsewhere, former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore takes on Watanabe Koki of Japan in the first round.
Another Olympic champion, Republic of Korea's An Se-young, headlines the women's singles, but with China's Wang Zhiyi and Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand also set to compete, victory is anything but a foregone conclusion.
Lee's absence shines a greater spotlight on the doubles events for Malaysia's fans, with top-ranked domestic pairs Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik - seeded fifth - and their compatriots Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin - seeded third - set to battle Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto for supremacy.
You can find the draws and daily schedule on the BWF page.
The event, of which the later rounds are available to watch live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices (territorial restrictions may apply).
BWF Malaysia Open 2025: How to watch on TV and livestream online
You can livestream the 2025 Malaysia Open on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices (territorial restrictions may apply).
It will also be available on the BWF TV YouTube channel and various domestic television broadcasters. In Malaysia, Astro holds the rights to BWF tournaments.
If you are unable to find a screen to watch the matches, look out for Olympics.com's reports on the results and best of the action from the event.