About
The YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England Open, is an annual badminton competition that is held in England and is a part of the Super 1000 Series tournaments of the BWF World Tour. It is the world’s oldest and one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments, holding a similar reputation as that of Wimbledon in Tennis. The All England Open is hosted by Badminton England, which is the national governing body for badminton in England.
The first edition of the tournament was over a century ago, in 1899. The first All England Open, however, didn’t have any singles category and was only contested in doubles. Over the years, the tournament has been played across eight various locations across London, Kent and Birmingham. Since 1994, the All England Open has been held at Birmingham.
The main sponsor of the tournament is badminton equipment giants, YONEX, who are based in Japan but are widely known all over the world. The tournament is also sponsored by 12BET, a global online gaming brand.
The 2021 edition of the All England Open begins on 17th March and will conclude on 21st March.
History
The tournament was developed after the success of the world’s first open tournament held in Guildford in 1898. The first edition of the tournament was held on April 4, 1899 and was played only in three categories - Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Both the Men’s and Women’s Singles were added to the competition from the following year. For the first two editions, it was called the “Badminton Association Tournament”, but later adopted its modern name.
Until 1977, the All England Open was considered the unofficial World Badminton Championships. The International Badminton Federation launched its official championships that year. The tournament has been halted twice: during World War I from 1915 to 1919 and World War II from 1940 to 1946.
2021 All England Badminton Open Venue
Despite being played in various locations in the past, the All England Open has found its home at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham City. Officially opened in 1991, it was the largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom at that time. It has a capacity of 15,800 and alongside the All England Open, it hosts the Sainsbury’s Indoor Grand Prix.
Prize Money
The total prize money for the tournament is USD 850,000. The amount is further distributed among the different categories based on the stipulations of the BWF regulations.
| Event | Winner | Finals | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | Last 16 | Last 32 |
| Singles | $59,500 | $28,900 | $11,900 | $4,675 | $2,550 | $850 |
| Doubles | $62,900 | $29,750 | $11,900 | $5,312.50 | $2,762.50 | $850 |
Point Distribution
| Winner | Runner-up | Semi-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Last 16 | Last 32 |
| 12,000 | 10,200 | 8,400 | 6,600 | 4,800 | 3,000 |
All England Open Defending Champions
The men’s singles title is held by Denmark's Viktor Axelsen, while the women’s singles title will be defended by Tai Tzu-ying
The men’s doubles title is held by the Japanese duo of Hiroyuki Endo / Yuta Watanabe. Meanwhile, the women’s doubles title is held by Yuki Fukushima / Sayaka Hirota of China.
