KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shuttlers will be well motivated by the prospect of earning "higher-than-usual" world ranking points at next week's China Open in Changzhou.
The Super 1000 tournament marks the debut of a revolutionary point system in the World Tour.
The China Open, boasting a staggering US$2 million (RM8.7 million) in prize money, will be the first tournament to implement the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) revised world ranking point system.
The new systen aims to create a more equitable correlation between prize money and ranking points in Super 1000 tournaments.
The China Open's prize purse substantially exceeds BWF's minimum requirement of US$1.3 million for a Super 1000 event by US$700,000, which translates into significant ranking points across all stages of the competition.
Under the new system, winners will receive 13,500 points (up from 12,000), runners-up 11,500 points (up from 10,200), semi-finalists 9,500 points (up from 8,400), and quarter-finalists 7,400 points (up from 6,600).
Even those finishing in the last 16 and first round will see increases, with 5,400 and 3,300 points respectively (up from 4,800 and 3,000).
A semi-finalist at the China Open will now surpass a Super 500 champion and a Super 750 runner-up in terms of points earned.
Remarkably, even reaching the quarter-finals alone surpasses the reward for winning a Super 300 title, underscoring the tournament's heightened importance in the World Tour schedule.
While the Indonesia Open in June was also a Super 1000 tournament, it offered the minimum US$1.3 million, its world ranking points remained unchanged.
The other two Super 1000 events are the Malaysia Open in January and All England in March.
For Malaysian players, the stakes are high. World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia could potentially overtake Jonatan Christie at No. 3 and close the gap to world No. 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark with a strong performance in Changzhou.
However, the participation of world No. 3 doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik is in doubt due to Wooi Yik's toe fracture. Missing out would significantly impact their ranking,
For national top women's pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and top mixed pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, ranked currently world No. 8 and No. 9 respectively, the China Open presents an excellent opportunity to solidify their positions and boost their quest towards the top five.
This marks the second consecutive year the China Open has offered a US$2 million prize fund, making it the second richest tournament after the World Tour Finals, which carries US$2.5 million.
Singles winners will take home US$140,000 while US$148,000 awaits the doubles champions. To put this in perspective, last September, Aaron-Wooi Yik earned US$70,000 as runners-up, more than the US$62,900 they received for winning the Denmark Open a month later.