With the next cycle of the Badminton World Federation Superseries events up for bidding, local organisers of the Singapore Open are hopeful sponsors will step in to help keep the badminton event a mainstay on the local sporting calendar.

While confident that current sponsor OUE will stay on board in their bid to win hosting rights for another four years, Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) chief executive officer Ronnie Lim hopes to secure a wider range of corporate backing.

The Singapore Open now offers US$350,000 (S$479,350) in prize money.

"I'm confident that OUE will continue as sponsors, but we're trying to see whether we can have a different level of sponsors, (rather than be) too reliant on one company," said Lim.

Property developer OUE became title sponsors in 2014, before extending its partnership in a new deal worth $2.2 million over three more years.

SBA secretary-general Michael Foo said the SBA will need substantial backing from sponsors before going into the next bidding process.

He said: "The costs of organising goes up every year, and with the market situation globally, it's also a challenging task finding sponsors."

May Chen