In or out, victory or defeat. Some things never change. But this tournament created legends of our game. In the past - and it will create heroes in the future. An event full of turmoil and drama: Welcome to the Yonex All England Open, probably the most exhilarating and enthralling of all badminton events.
Former European Champion and second seed Jan Ø. Jørgensen faces Taiwanese shuttler Hsu Jen Hao in the opening round of the Superseries Premier tournament in Birmingham, a player he defeated in straight games at last year’s tournament.
For eighth seed Ng Ka Long Angus, it’s a clash with home favourite and English star Rajiv Ouseph in the first round, with Ouseph – ranked 14th in the world – making his return from an injury.
In one of the most interesting matches of tomorrow’s opening round of the 600.000 Dollars Superseries event, Germany’s Marc Zwiebler, former European Champion, will battle it out against Olympic Champion Chen Long.
Zwiebler: „The most prestigious tournament“
“I was disappointed not to go through in last year’s quarter finals after having match point,” Zwiebler told Badminton England, “but I have got some good memories of the All England tournament.
“I have played at the Barclaycard Arena probably ten times now and it always a beautiful arena to play in. There is normally a beautiful crowd in to watch as well so it is always magical.
“The YONEX All England is the most prestigious tournament on the circuit.”
Viktor Axelsen, last year’s quarter-finalist, will be up against his teammate and current Danish national champion Anders Antonsen. „I am looking forward to the tough challenge and hopefully I can give him a hard match as well“, the younger Done wrote on his official Facebook page.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin, seeded two, opens with European opposition in the form of Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. For Marin, the Danish shuttler is an uncomfortable opponent as she needed three games in four out of the six matches they played each other since 2014.
Match of the day: Ivanov/Sozonov vs Kolding/Conrad
The most exciting of all opening round fixtures come out of an impressive line up in the men’s doubles: Reigning champions, Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov of Russia face a tough opening examination of their title defence as they face seeded duo of Mads Conrad and Mads Kolding, the current European Champions from Denmark.
(1st round) Matches to watch:
Brice Leverdez (FRA) vs Lee Chong Wei (MAS)
Marc Zwiebler (GER) vs Chen Long (CHN)
Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN) vs Lu Kai/Zheng Siwei (CHN)
Viktor Axelsen (DEN) - Anders Antonsen (DEN)
Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov (RUS) - Mads Kolding/Mads Conrad (DEN)
The Yonex All England main round action continues on Wednesday with the matches kicking off 9am GMT.
Click HERE for all results (and live score) of the 2017 Yonex All England Open.
Article by Manuel Rösler. Photos by BadmintonPhoto.