It’s a battle of the old guard vs the young guns in this year’s edition.

Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan rolled back the years to win the All England title at the expense of Malaysia’s determined rising pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, firing a stern warning to the men’s doubles division of their second coming.

Installed as one of the early favourites, the wily Indonesians will look to make it a treble of Malaysia Open titles after winning the coveted trophy in 2013 and 2015.

Will the real Tai Tzu Ying stand up?

After a stellar 2018 which saw the reigning badminton princess hit the US$1 million mark to sit on top of the BWF money list, the World No. 1 has been slow to get off the mark in 2019.

It’s still early days but the world champion from Kaohsiung is aiming to stamp her mark once again after a painful loss to China’s rising star, Chen Yufei in the recent  All England final.

In the absence of defending Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open champion, Lee Chong Wei, a new name will be etched on the trophy of the men’s singles.

The evergreen stalwart was all set to make his long-awaited comeback after an eight-month hiatus since diagnosed with nose cancer, but was forced to withdraw on March 19th upon his doctor’s advice.

National mixed doubles pair, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai are eager to continue their encouraging performances this year when the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open 2019 opens its doors at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil from 2-7 April.

Showcasing a more consistent gameplay since the start of the year, Soon Huat-Shevon reached the All England semi-finals which showed evident signs of them reaching their peak as a pair.