Several heavy-duty opening round matches are set to unfold at the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024, the penultimate tournament for qualification to the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2024.

With their qualification hinging on their performances this week and the next (China Masters), several topline contenders have thrown their hats into the ring.

Among the opening clashes to look forward to are Japan Open champion Alex Lanier against No.7 seed Li Shi Feng; Hong Kong Open runner-up Lei Lan Xi against Loh Kean Yew; No.6 seed Chou Tien Chen against Brian Yang, and Denmark Open runner-up Koki Watanabe against Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.

Viktor Axelsen as Olympic champion is assured of qualification, but he has a potentially difficult opening opponent in Wang Tzu Wei, who beat him at the French Open earlier this year.

In women’s singles, third seed Tai Tzu Ying appears set to return from an injury layoff as she takes on a qualifier, but the enticing opening encounter could be between Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and Tomoka Miyazaki. Putri Kusuma Wardani, winner of the Korea Masters on Sunday, faces 2019 World Junior champion Riko Gunji. Pusarla V Sindhu will attempt to salvage a below-par season as she takes on Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

In women’s doubles, No.5 seeds Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan will expect to have their hands full against new pair Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto.

Promotions

Men’s Singles: Minoru Koga, Keita Makino (Japan)
Women’s Singles: Tung Ciou-Tong (Chinese Taipei)
Men’s Doubles: Takumi Nomura/Yuichi Shimogami; Keiichiro Matsui/Katsuki Tamate (all Japan); Chiang Chien-Wei/Wei Chun Wei (Chinese Taipei)
Women’s Doubles: Hsieh Pei Shan/Hung En-Tzu (Chinese Taipei); Arisa Igarashi/Ayako Sakuramoto; Kaho Osawa/Mai Tanabe (Japan)
Mixed Doubles: Takumi Nakashima/Mikoto Chiba (Japan)

Withdrawals

Men’s Singles: Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia), Weng Hong Yang (China)
Women’s Singles: Nozomi Okuhara (Japan)
Men’s Doubles: Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (China), Andreas Sondergaard/Jesper Toft (Denmark), Kazuki Shibata/Naoki Yamada (Japan)
Women’s Doubles: Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee (Korea), Nicole Gonzales Chan/Yang (Chinese Taipei)
Mixed Doubles: Ye Hong Wei/Nicole Gonzales Chan (Chinese Taipei)