Only 30 per cent of tickets left for star-studded Singapore Open
With stars signed up, Singapore's marquee badminton tournament enjoys brisk ticket sales
The final two days of the OUE Singapore Open at the Indoor Stadium will coincide with the HSBC Sevens World Series rugby tournament at the National Stadium, but the clash has not hurt ticket sales for the marquee badminton tournament.
Organisers of the Singapore Open said yesterday that 70 per cent of the tickets for the general public have already been sold, with two months to go before the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Superseries tournament.
The badminton showpiece will take place at the Sports Hub's Indoor Stadium from April 12 to 17, while rugby's Singapore Sevens will be at the National Stadium on April 16 and 17.
"We are very pleased with the sales so far and thank our fans for their support. The sales this year have been boosted by big-name participants confirming their entries for the OUE Singapore Open," said Singapore Open organising chairman Ng Yoke Weng.
"We are confident that ticket sales will reach or surpass last year's figure.
"We originally blocked out some seats to enhance the spectator experience. We can release more seats as demand builds up."
The news can be partly attributed to the fact that organisers started selling tickets earlier this year - early bird sales started on Jan 11, compared to Feb 26 for last year's tournament.
But Ng also pointed out that a host of stars have signed up to do battle at the Indoor Stadium.
In a statement yesterday, the organisers confirmed that top shuttlers from Indonesia, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, England and Malaysia will be on show here.
The players includ the Indonesian women's doubles world No. 2 tandem of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii, Thailand's two-time Singapore Open men's singles champion and perennial crowd favourite Boonsak Ponsana, as well as his countrywoman, 2013 world champion Ratchanok Intanon.
This is in addition to a strong Chinese team - including two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan and men's singles world No. 1 Chen Long - who confirmed their attendance earlier.
Entries for this year's tournament will close on March 1.
The Singapore Open is the final major tournament for players to earn ranking points in the Olympic qualification window, with the BWF using the world rankings on May 5 to allocate Olympic spots.
Malaysia's men's doubles pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, ranked 17th in the world, are aiming to get a good result to propel themselves ahead of compatriots Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong, ranked a place higher, to secure their Olympic berths.
Tan said: "We resumed our partnership last May and we've got a good dynamic.
"Every qualifying point to the Rio Olympics matters to us right now, and we will definitely go all out for the Singapore Open this April."
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