Nathan Robertson and England’s other top players will take on the best in the world next month with the entry list for the Yonex All England Open Championships looking like a Who’s Who of badminton.
The oldest Open championships in the sport is one of the five new Premier events in this year’s OSIM BWF Super Series and the stars will really be out at the National indoor Arena in Birmingham from March 8-13.
This will be the 28th consecutive year of Yonex sponsorship of the All England, making it one of the most enduring partnerships in world sport. And what a turn-out!
Commonwealth silver and European bronze medallist Rajiv Ouseph, who has just won his fourth National title, is guaranteed a place in the draw as he stands proudly in the world’s top 16. He is joined by Malaysia’s defending champion and Commonwealth gold medallist Lee Chong Wei, China’s four-times champion and triple world champion Lin Dan, world champion and 2008 winner Chen Jin and world runner-up and former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.
The line-up is so strong that all but two of the world’s top 30 have entered. Carl Baxter, the England No 2 and three-times English national runner-up, will have to come through the qualifying to make the main draw even though he is No 36 in the world
Of the three past and present world champions in the line-up, Taufik is the only one yet to win the All England despite two final appearances. And you can’t ever discount Denmark’s five-times European and 1999 All England champion Peter Gade, who at the age of 34 is still up there near the top of the pile at world No 4.
Last year’s All England visitors will remember vividly the quarter-final between Gade and Taufik which the Dane won 20-22, 22-20, 22-20 before losing to Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals.
In the women’s singles, Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff has gained a place in the main draw but and England’s Elizabeth Cann must come through qualifying as they prepare to go head to head over the next year in the race to qualify for London 2012.
The year-long Olympic qualifying period starts on May 1 and all the top players are now looking to pick up big ranking points as they jockey for position.
Like the men’s event, all the top women will be competing with the notable exception of world champion Wang Lin, who has been out injured since the autumn. But defending champion Tine Baun of Denmark will again take on the best from Asia with world No 1 Wang Shixian, world No 2 and 2010 runner-up Wang Yihan and world runner-up Wang Xin joined by India’s Commonwealth champion Saina Nehwal in the line-up.
There are seven Chinese in the world’s top 20 – which illustrates just how difficult it will be for Baun as she bids for a third All England title after being in the last three finals – she lost to Wang Yihan in 2009.
Home hopes once again rest with Robertson and Jenny Wallwork, the Commonwealth silver and European bronze medallists. Robertson is the only home player in the tournament with an All England title to his name after his win with Gail Emms in 2005. In 2004 they had won the Olympic silver medal and by 2006 they had lifted the world title.
Earlier this month Robertson won a sixth national mixed doubles title and his second with Wallwork after four with Emms. But he needs no reminding that the quality of the opposition will be a world apart when he arrives in Birmingham.
China’s defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei head the challenge along with former world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Juhl, the 2005 runners-up.
Last year’s winner Ma Jin, who also went on to lift the world title with Zheng Bo, is back in Birmingham with a new man at her side in Xu Chen while new world No 1s Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing will also pose a huge threat.
But home fans can also look to young Chris Adcock and Scotland’s Imogen Bankier as well as Robert Blair and Gabby White to make an impact. Adcock and Bankier won the Scottish, Irish and Italian Internationals to launch their new partnership at the end of 2010 while Blair and White reached last month’s semi-finals on the Malaysian Open after coming through the qualifying rounds.
The big disappointment for England fans is the fact that Anthony Clark and Chris Langridge have only made the reserve list in the men’s doubles but Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis and Marcus Ellis and Peter Mills are in the main draw to challenge players like Denmark’s defending champion Jonas Rasmussen and new partner Mads Conrad-Petersen following the retirement of Lars Paaske.
World No 1 pair and 2010 runners-up Carsten Mogensen and Matthias Boe are the other big Danish hopes while Korea’s Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, former champions and reigning world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and Indonesia’s former world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan are the leading title contenders.
Blair must once again come through qualifying with men’s doubles partner Flandy Limpele, the Indonesian who was runner-up in 2002 when he was based at Milton Keynes as an England sparring partner with team-mate Eng Hian.
In the women’s doubles European bronze medallists Heather Olver and Mariana Agathangelou and Commonwealth Games fourth place pair Wallwork and White are neck and neck in the world’s top 25 but the big threat will come from the world and defending champions Yu Yang and Du Jing, albeit with new partners. Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli are world No1s while Du Jing and Pan Pan are No 11s. With China providing all four semi-finalists last year you wouldn’t be against their dominance going on after 13 title triumphs in the last 15 years.
The oldest Open championships in the sport is one of the five new Premier events in this year’s OSIM BWF Super Series and the stars will really be out at the National indoor Arena in Birmingham from March 8-13.
This will be the 28th consecutive year of Yonex sponsorship of the All England, making it one of the most enduring partnerships in world sport. And what a turn-out!
Commonwealth silver and European bronze medallist Rajiv Ouseph, who has just won his fourth National title, is guaranteed a place in the draw as he stands proudly in the world’s top 16. He is joined by Malaysia’s defending champion and Commonwealth gold medallist Lee Chong Wei, China’s four-times champion and triple world champion Lin Dan, world champion and 2008 winner Chen Jin and world runner-up and former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.The line-up is so strong that all but two of the world’s top 30 have entered. Carl Baxter, the England No 2 and three-times English national runner-up, will have to come through the qualifying to make the main draw even though he is No 36 in the world
Of the three past and present world champions in the line-up, Taufik is the only one yet to win the All England despite two final appearances. And you can’t ever discount Denmark’s five-times European and 1999 All England champion Peter Gade, who at the age of 34 is still up there near the top of the pile at world No 4.
Last year’s All England visitors will remember vividly the quarter-final between Gade and Taufik which the Dane won 20-22, 22-20, 22-20 before losing to Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals.
In the women’s singles, Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff has gained a place in the main draw but and England’s Elizabeth Cann must come through qualifying as they prepare to go head to head over the next year in the race to qualify for London 2012.
The year-long Olympic qualifying period starts on May 1 and all the top players are now looking to pick up big ranking points as they jockey for position.
Like the men’s event, all the top women will be competing with the notable exception of world champion Wang Lin, who has been out injured since the autumn. But defending champion Tine Baun of Denmark will again take on the best from Asia with world No 1 Wang Shixian, world No 2 and 2010 runner-up Wang Yihan and world runner-up Wang Xin joined by India’s Commonwealth champion Saina Nehwal in the line-up.There are seven Chinese in the world’s top 20 – which illustrates just how difficult it will be for Baun as she bids for a third All England title after being in the last three finals – she lost to Wang Yihan in 2009.
Home hopes once again rest with Robertson and Jenny Wallwork, the Commonwealth silver and European bronze medallists. Robertson is the only home player in the tournament with an All England title to his name after his win with Gail Emms in 2005. In 2004 they had won the Olympic silver medal and by 2006 they had lifted the world title.Earlier this month Robertson won a sixth national mixed doubles title and his second with Wallwork after four with Emms. But he needs no reminding that the quality of the opposition will be a world apart when he arrives in Birmingham.
China’s defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei head the challenge along with former world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Juhl, the 2005 runners-up.Last year’s winner Ma Jin, who also went on to lift the world title with Zheng Bo, is back in Birmingham with a new man at her side in Xu Chen while new world No 1s Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing will also pose a huge threat.
But home fans can also look to young Chris Adcock and Scotland’s Imogen Bankier as well as Robert Blair and Gabby White to make an impact. Adcock and Bankier won the Scottish, Irish and Italian Internationals to launch their new partnership at the end of 2010 while Blair and White reached last month’s semi-finals on the Malaysian Open after coming through the qualifying rounds.
The big disappointment for England fans is the fact that Anthony Clark and Chris Langridge have only made the reserve list in the men’s doubles but Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis and Marcus Ellis and Peter Mills are in the main draw to challenge players like Denmark’s defending champion Jonas Rasmussen and new partner Mads Conrad-Petersen following the retirement of Lars Paaske.
World No 1 pair and 2010 runners-up Carsten Mogensen and Matthias Boe are the other big Danish hopes while Korea’s Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, former champions and reigning world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and Indonesia’s former world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan are the leading title contenders.
Blair must once again come through qualifying with men’s doubles partner Flandy Limpele, the Indonesian who was runner-up in 2002 when he was based at Milton Keynes as an England sparring partner with team-mate Eng Hian.
In the women’s doubles European bronze medallists Heather Olver and Mariana Agathangelou and Commonwealth Games fourth place pair Wallwork and White are neck and neck in the world’s top 25 but the big threat will come from the world and defending champions Yu Yang and Du Jing, albeit with new partners. Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli are world No1s while Du Jing and Pan Pan are No 11s. With China providing all four semi-finalists last year you wouldn’t be against their dominance going on after 13 title triumphs in the last 15 years.
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