Impressive field for Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open

The NMI-hosted Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 that will run from July 2 to 7 at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium will feature two former World Junior champions, a reigning continental champion, and several Top 100 ranked players in the world.

Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kwan Lin, who ruled the men’s singles play in the 2022 World Junior Championship held in Santander, Spain, leads the men’s field in the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024. Lin will be joined in the Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournament by New Zealand’s Edward Lau, who topped the men’s singles event in the Oceania Championships 2024 that took place in Victoria, Australia in February. Lau also made it to the finals of the mixed doubles event (with Shaunna Li) of the same tournament before losing to the tandem of Kenneth Choo and inaugural Northern Marianas Open participant Gronya Sommerville of Australia.

Lin and Lau are among the 200 players from 16 countries who registered for the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024, which will kick off the pair of BWF-sanctioned events that Northern Marianas Badminton Association is bringing back to the islands following a successful hosting of two 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifying tournament last year. The other competition, the Dove Saipan International 2024—is scheduled for July 9 to 13.

Besides the two champions, the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 will also have former World No. 3 Hye Jeong Kim of South Korea and 2019 World Junior Championship winner Riko Gunji, who has won two of her last three tournaments this year. Gunji, who is among the seeded players in the women’s singles, was crowned champion in the State Denmark Challenge 2024 in May and Toyota Thailand International Challenge in March. The Japanese also joined Luxembourg Open and placed second in the competition.

Gunji’s notable rivals for the women’s singles championship will be the seven players that are ranked in the Top 100—No. 58 Hsiang Ti of Chinese-Taipei, No. 82 Sih Yun Lin, and No. 86 Ching Ping Huang and fellow Japanese Kaoru Sugiyama (No. 83), Asuka Takahashi (No. 85), and Akari Kurihara (No. 88). Chinese-Taipei’s Yu-Hsuan Lee is ranked outside the Top 100, as she is currently at No. 103, but joins Gunji and six others on the list of seeded players in the women’s singles.

In the men’s singles, Lin is seeded No. 2 behind Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettansinghe, who is the highest ranked player in the division at No. 74. Japan’s Riku Hatano, Ryoma Muramoto, and Shoko Ogawa, Malaysia’s Huang Yu and Chi Ting Chen complete the list of seeded entries in the men’s singles.

In the mixed doubles, the pair of Hiroki Nishi and Akari Sato is the top seed team and also the highest ranked players in the entire field of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 at No. 33.

Meanwhile, NMBA president Merlie Tolentino said the badminton community is excited to welcome these top-level players and witness their brilliance on the court.

“When we first hosted the two BWF Grade 3 International Challenge/Paris Olympic Qualifiers, we were treated to high-level matches that have never been seen on the islands before. Our upcoming local players, especially our youth players, were able to watch these exciting games. This time, many of our young players will have a chance to play against these top players,” Tolentino said.

“These are the opportunities afforded to us by hosting BWF-ranking tournaments—allowing our community to experience what it’s like to watch high-level badminton matches, giving our players the much-needed exposure to international competitions, and supporting NMI’s efforts in promoting sports tourism,” the NMBA president added. (PR)