The seeds are in and the heirarchy is set — at least on paper. With some noteworthy placements and rising stars cracking the top ranks, the Northern Marianas International 2025 is shaping up to be a tournament defined as much by surprises as by favourites.
Kicking off on 17 June, the five days of action will light up Saipan, Northern Marianas. Here’s what you need to know about the top seeds:
Men’s Singles
21-year-old Byung Jae Kim from Korea sits atop the Men’s Singles seeding list.
Ranking 126th in MS globally, Kim took out FELET Vietnam International Series 2024 and placed third in the HUNDRED Sri Lanka International Series earlier this year.
His fellow countrymen, Cho Geonyeop and Yoo Tae Bin round out the top three seeds. Cho brings years of experience competing on the world stage. His current form reinforced with a second place finish at the TOYOTA Phuket International Series in April.
Yoo is currently ranked 179th in the world and is coming off a slew of first and second place finishes this year, notably a win at the YONEX Luxembourg Open 2025.
Australian Ricky Tang comes in as fourth seed. He is coming off a strong showing at the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals last month and will be looking to uproot the Korean trio.
Seeding List – MS
- Byung Jae KIM (KOR)
- CHO Geonyeop (KOR)
- YOO Tae Bin (KOR)
- Ricky TANG (AUS)
- HUAN Kai Hern (MAS)
- Hing Long Wong (CAN)
- Shrey Dhand (AUS)
- Kevin Arokia Walter (USA)
Women’s Singles
Korea’s Park Ga Eun is the number one seed in the women’s singles. The 24-year old placed third in the WONDR by BNI Indonesia Masters 2024, showcasing her strength to rally back across several three-game matches.
The young Korean Kim Min Sun is the second seed with a world rank of 148. Chinese Taipei’s Yu Chen Han enters the competition as third seed. After a consistent 2024-2025, she will be looking for her breakthrough tournament.
Seeding List – WS
- PARK Ga Eun (KOR)
- KIM Min Sun (KOR)
- Yu Chen HAN (TPE)
- LEE So Yul (KOR)
- Saena KAWAKAMI (AUS)
- Tin En Tiffany LIM (SGP)
- Victoria TJONADI (AUS)
- Faye HUO (AUS)
Doubles (Men’s/Women’s/Mixed)
The top seed for the men’s doubles is Kim Jae Hyeon and Sang won Lee of Korea. This duo made it to quarter finals of the Korea Masters 2024 but have not played together in international competition so far this year.
In the women’s doubles, Japan’s Momoha Niimi and Mikoto Aiso occupy the number one position. The pair took out the STATE Denmark Challenge 2025 presented by RSL women’s double title earlier this month.
Akira Koga and Yuho Imai (JPN) enter the tournament as the the top contender.
