World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn will look to justify his top billing at the Korea Masters 2024 as he seeks his season’s first title.

While the Thai has had a good season – with runner-up finishes at the YONEX French Open and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he has yet to win a title in over a year, with his last coming at the World Championships in August 2023. Adding to the motivation will be the vital ranking points on offer as he seeks to qualify for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2024. Following the Korea Masters which begins tomorrow, the last two qualifying events will be the Kumamoto Masters Japan and the China Masters.

Vitidsarn is currently 10^th in the BWF World Tour Rankings, but he has played only 10 events so far and can expect to see his ranking jump up considerably with strong performances in the last three qualifying events. Given that there are no other big names in the draw, Vitidsarn will hope to avoid any unpleasant surprises this week.

In women’s singles, Japanese young star Tomoka Miyazaki starts as favourite, with a likely second round showdown against Pitchamon Opatniputh in a clash between two recent world junior champions.

Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani, who has had a sensational recent season, heads the lower half of the draw.

Promotions:
Men’s Singles: Enrico Ascuncion (USA), Lee Yun Gyu (Korea)
Women’s Singles: Yoo Seo Yeon, Lee So Yul (Korea)

Withdrawals:
Men’s Singles: Cheam June Wei (Malaysia); Ayush Shetty (India)
Women’s Singles: Cai Yan Yan (China), Riko Gunji (Japan), Samiya (India)
Women’s Doubles: Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian (China), Nicole Gonzales Chan/Yang Chu Yun (Chinese Taipei)
Mixed Doubles: Ye Hong Wei/Nicole Gonzales Chan (Chinese Taipei)

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