Chicken rice on badminton world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn’s list at KFF S’pore Open
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Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn won his first KFF Singapore Badminton Open men's singles title in 2025.
PHOTO: ST FILE
- Top Thai badminton players, including Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Dechapol Puavaranukroh, are excited to compete in the Singapore Badminton Open and enjoy local food.
- The Singapore Badminton Open will feature global top players, including Taiwanese and Japanese athletes, with the Singapore contingent led by Loh Kean Yew.
- The Super 750 tournament offers US$1 million in prize money and this is the final year of the SBO's Super 750 status.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Despite hailing from the land of tom yum goong and other culinary delights, Thailand’s top badminton players still cannot get enough of Singapore’s local favourites when they are in town.
After confirming his participation in the May 26-31 KFF Singapore Badminton Open, men’s singles defending champion and world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn is looking forward to tucking into chicken rice and roast pork with his good friend, Singapore’s world No. 11 Loh Kean Yew.
The 24-year-old said: “I’m excited to return to Singapore to defend my title.
“It’s truly an honour to compete at the KFF Singapore Open with such a supportive crowd here.
“Returning to the world No. 1 spot brings pressure, but that’s a positive for me. It gives me added motivation to win every tournament I compete in.”
Kunlavut, the 2023 world champion and 2024 Paris Olympics silver medallist, had previously said in a promotional video that he “would like to eat chicken rice because I cannot eat seafood and spicy food”.
Mixed doubles world No. 3 pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran will also return to defend their title, and the former is licking his lips at the prospect of feasting on Hokkien mee with Singapore doubles player Terry Hee.
Dechapol, 28, who also won two Singapore Open mixed doubles titles with Sapsiree Taerattanachai in 2019 and 2022, said: “Every time I come to Singapore, I look for a Hokkien mee restaurant.
“My close friend Terry Hee takes me there every year, and we’ll be going again.
“Defending the title is incredibly difficult because everyone wants to win, so I’ll just enjoy playing and try my best to make sure the fans who come to cheer me on at the stadium get to watch the most enjoyable game possible.”
Other top Thai players at the tournament include SEA Games women’s singles champion and world No. 7 Ratchanok Intanon. A fan of Singapore’s bak kut teh (pork ribs soup), the 31-year-old will be challenging for the title she last won in 2016.
As a Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 750 event, the US$1 million (S$1.28 million) tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium will feature all the top 15 singles players and top 10 doubles pairs in the world rankings.
This is the final year of its Super 750 status before it is reclassified as a Super 500 event from 2027.
Other than the Thais, it will also boast in-form Taiwanese like men’s singles world No. 8 Lin Chun-yi, who won the Super 1000 All England Open and Super 750 India Open earlier in 2026.
The 26-year-old will be joined by 12th-ranked mixed doubles pair Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan, who also made a breakthrough by becoming Chinese Taipei’s first All England champions in the event.
The 37-member Japan squad will be headlined by women’s singles world No. 4 and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi, 19-year-old former world junior champion Tomoka Miyazaki and men’s singles world No. 10 Kodai Naraoka.
The Singapore contingent will be led by Loh, who reached the semi-finals in 2022.
Tickets are available via Ticketmaster, with daily passes priced from $40 and season passes from $115.
Ahead of the Singapore Open, the continent’s best players will first compete at the April 7-12 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China.
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