Some of the best players on the planet will descend upon the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham for the start of the 117th edition of the All England Badminton Championships that begins on Tuesday.
Its been a mixed start to the season for most of the players. For the likes of Carolina Marin, Saina Nehwal etc, this will be the first competition that they would be featuring in 2016, while for others like Li Xuerui, this would be a continuation of sorts since she played and won the German Open, that concluded on Sunday.
For some match practice forms a critical part of their preparations ahead of an important competition, but as we have seen in the past, there have been instances when players have walked into tournaments with little match time and won the event.
A similar tale can be observed in the Men’s section as well with the likes of Chen Long yet to open his account for the year while veterans like Lin Dan fighting it out in Grand Prix gold events.
Like last year, all eyes will once again be on Chen, who will be the firm favourite, even as, in Kento Momota, Jan O Jorgensen and a dark horse in the form of Viktor Axelson he has added competitors to the already-existing list of rivals that include Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan among others.
It is in the Women's section, that things seem interesting. The top two seeds- Marin and Saina- are yet to play in 2016 and if all goes well look set for a second straight meeting in the final in a week's time.
Their competition, like in the case of the Men's category, has increased. In Nozomi Okuhara, is an opponent who has risen to the challenge as was evident at the year ending Dubai Superseries Finals and Xuerui continues to show that she has it in her to continue to challenge the best. Ratchanak Intanon will also be another one to watch out for.
The likes of Wang Yihan, Wang Shixian etc will continue to remain a threat so will Tzu Ying Tai and PV Sindhu.It promises to be a highly competitive six days of action and hopefully, at the end of it, we would see a worthy winner of one of the most prestigious events in the sport.
