[Photos] Rain, Reign, And Reflection: A Poetic Portrait of PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025
Where USD1.45 million meets monsoon season reality, the 2025 PETRONAS Malaysia Open has become more than just another tournament. Despite early exits of home favorites, packed stands at Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena tell a story of Malaysia’s unwavering passion for badminton
The shuttle cuts through the air like a comet, leaving trails of possibility in its wake.
In Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena, where January humidity wraps around players like a second skin, the 2025 PETRONAS Malaysia Open unfolds as both a celebration and meditation on the state of modern badminton.
This is where USD1.45 million in prize money meets monsoon season whimsy, where Korea’s woman single player An Se Young’s balletic precision shares headlines with maintenance crews mopping surprise indoor puddles.
It’s a tournament that reminds us how sport remains beautifully human at its highest level – capable of both transcendent moments and endearing imperfections.
Heartbreak And Hope: Malaysia’s Love Letter To Badminton
For Malaysian fans, it’s been a week of complicated emotions.
Their warriors fought valiantly but fell early, leaving them to appreciate the art of others’ victories.
Yet the stands remained full, the cheers authentic.
In badminton-mad Malaysia, the love of the game transcends national allegiance.
Through the lens this past week, we captured these intersecting stories: of champions crowned and dreams deferred, of technical brilliance and technical difficulties, of a tournament that stands proud despite its occasional leaks.
The PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025 took place at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, from 7 to 12 January. Originally known as Putra Stadium, it has undergone significant renovations to become a modern multipurpose venue, hosting sports, concerts, and large gatherings.With a substantial prize pool of USD 1,450,000, the PETRONAS Malaysia Open is one of only four tournaments classified as a Super 1000 by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), highlighting its significance in the badminton world.A still life in abandoned hydration: Discarded bottles accumulate outside Axiata Arena during the PETRONAS Malaysia Open, where security protocols meet tropical necessity in an inadvertent commentary on modern sporting culture.Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen submits to the practised hands of a physiotherapist, a rare glimpse into the solitary moments before badminton’s gladiatorial spectacle begins. Following his first-round exit, reports suggest Axelsen joined the Petronas Open to avoid penalties associated with non-participation in events.The Axiata Arena’s architecture creates its social geography – corporate boxes blend into general admission, students crane next to CEOs – yet the collective gasps know no class distinction.Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair, were eliminated in the first round of the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2024, continuing a pattern of early exits in this tournament.Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei’s racquets meet where a shuttle should have been, creating an impromptu percussion in Malaysia’s symphony of hope. The world’s No. 5 pair lost to top-ranked opponents Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping from China.In the fleeting seconds after the match point, Shevon Lai melts into husband Goh Soon Huat’s embrace, a rare moment where matrimonial and professional partnerships achieve perfect synchronicity. The couple got married in May 2024.Mens double player Ong Yew Sin’s instinctive descent to court level isn’t surrender but its opposite – a choreographed vanishing act that lets Teo Ee Yi’s smash explode overhead like tactical thunder.Maintenance crews perform their own choreography of crisis management – peeling back sodden court layers with the delicate urgency of surgeons. This unscripted intermission offers a humbling tableau: world-class athletes and court technicians sharing the same sacred space, one group’s excellence dependent on the other’s efficiency.Former Malaysian player Wong Choon Hann, now Hong Kong’s coaching catalyst, passed tactics to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. Moments later, these courtside murmurs would translate into one of the tournament’s defining shocks, dismantling Axelsen’s aura of invincibility.Between points, Japan’s Chiharu Shida (left) and Misaki Matsutomo – thrust together by circumstance rather than design – exchange notes like scientists comparing urgent data. Their temporary alliance, bridging Olympic cycles and playing styles, offers a rare glimpse of badminton’s adaptability.Coach Tan Bin Shen pauses for one last round of selfies, his BAM coaching lanyard soon to be replaced by Hong Kong colours – the tournament is Tan’s last assignment. The fans’ phones capture more than just an image – they’re preserving the final chapter of his Malaysian tenure, each flash marking time’s passage in badminton’s carousel of loyalty and opportunity. Tok Mo (right), also known as Mansor Abdul Kohni, has supported Malaysian badminton passionately since 1987, regularly attending events to encourage national athletes. Draped in Jalur Gemilang, he and others rise as one – hands clasped in gratitude to heaven, voices lifting the arena’s roof. These disciples of Malaysian badminton transform the Axiata Arena into a bastion of hope.National men’s doubles player Man Wei Chong performs his own Formula One moment – fingers flying over strings, eyes locked on court, body coiled to spring back into battle. The ten-second racquet exchange becomes a masterclass in multitasking: testing tension, tracking trajectory, and calculating re-entry.A poignant exit at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025: An athlete’s departure via wheelchair transforms Axiata Arena’s service corridor into a reluctant stage, where the stark fluorescent lighting illuminates sports’ most sobering reality—dreams interrupted not by defeat but by the body’s betrayal.Etihad Airways is the exclusive Official BWF Global Airline Partner starting in 2025. The BWF has several sponsors, including HSBC and Victor.A fan holds up the gleaming NFC card where badminton players’ image meets modern technology – badminton’s past and future interfacing in a tap-and-go era. These cards were available for purchase at the tournament.During the meet-and-greet session, siblings Vivian and Pang Ron Hoo turn fan service into a family reunion of sorts. She, the women’s doubles veteran; he, the rising mixed doubles star – different courts but same blood, different partners but same passion.Beyond Axiata Arena’s thundering rallies, a different kind of Malaysian spectacle unfolds – food trucks and stalls transform the concourse into a badminton-themed pasar malam.Under a sprawling white tent, fans find sanctuary from sun and rain, their makeshift dining hall doubling as a satellite stadium. The giant screen commands attention above plastic tables and chairs, while the clinking of plates provides percussion to match commentary.At the intersection of commerce and competition, Malaysia’s badminton elite perform different choreography. Yonex, the sport’s equivalent of Nike-meets-Ferrari, turns these court warriors into catalogue cool cats while quietly keeping the whole show running with everything from strings to the floor beneath their feet.In the rarefied air of Axiata Arena’s superfan enclave—where week-long passes command upwards of RM2,000—devotees of the shuttle sport create their own microculture of passionate spectatorship, proving that passion knows no price tag.Japanese women’s doubles player Yuki Fukushima reacts after winning the Women’s Doubles title at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025 by defeating China’s Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian. Her exultation transcends mere victory—it’s a validation of new beginnings, having recently paired with Mayu Matsumoto. Both were former world No.1s with their previous partners.Red and white clash with red and gold as competing war cries fill the air – “Jia You!” meets “Ganbatte!” in badminton’s ancient rivalry renewed. Chinese and Japanese flags wave like signal fires across the stands, each nation’s supporters orchestrating their own symphony of hope.A sartorial declaration of devotion: Draped in Malaysia’s Jalur Gemilang as headgear and adorned with actual shuttlecocks, this superfan embodies the intersection of national pride and badminton fervour. His attire, part folk art and part fan memorabilia, transforms spectatorship into performance art at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025.Fingers fly across keyboards as fast as shuttlecocks across the court – journalists racing against time to capture history in real-time. Their faces illuminated by laptop screens, these chroniclers of sport translate split-second decisions into headlines..Like a royal homecoming, Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s presence turns the concourse into a euphoric fan frenzy. Even years after hanging up his racquet, Lee – with 12 title wins at the Malaysia Open over 15 years – still commands the kind of attention usually reserved for match point moments.A weary Wang Zhi Yi gently declines autograph requests. Fresh from a finals defeat, the Chinese star’s need for space speaks volumes about the physical and emotional toll of elite sport.Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran made history by becoming the first Thai mixed doubles pair to win the championship. Competing in just their sixth tournament together, the duo triumphed over the world’s No. 1 pair, showcasing their remarkable talent and synergy.In a moment of pure elation, Shi Yu Qi transforms his match-worn shirt into the ultimate trophy for his faithful supporters. He made history by becoming the first Chinese men’s singles player to win the Malaysia Open since the legendary Lin Dan.Seo Seung Jae reacts after winning the Men’s Doubles title at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025. This victory makes him and his new partner, Kim Won Ho, the second South Korean to win a title in this tournament after women’s singles champion An Se Young.Through a theatrical haze of smoke and shimmering confetti rain, the men’s doubles finalists hoist their oversized checks – their smiles catching the flash of cameras.BAM’s officials and team gather for the traditional closing shot – a photograph heavy with unspoken pressure. Another home tournament concludes without Malaysian winners, each flash of the camera illuminating the growing drought of international success. Behind their professional facades, the burden of a nation’s badminton aspirations weighs visibly on their shoulders.