All England Open Badminton Championships 2023: Top 10 players to watch out for

The oldest tournament in the sport will see high-profile players in attendance.

Badminton fans are gearing up for the start of the 2023 edition of the All England Open Badminton Championships. The iconic tournament is set to be from 14 to 19 March 2023 and contains a total prize pool of $1,250,000. 

It is a Super 1000 tournament that will attract top badminton stars from across the world. Last year’s winners will face stiff competition from the challengers as they set out to defend their crowns. No Indian has won the tournament in the last 22 years which adds pressure on the current crop of shuttlers. 

There are plenty of high-profile players that will mark their presence at the All England Open Badminton Championships across multiple categories. Here is a look at the top 10 individuals to watch out for:

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty

When it comes to Men’s Doubles, then Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty represent India’s best hopes of a win. The duo has been achieving incredible feats lately and will back themselves ahead of a difficult category. The bronze medal winners from the 2022 World Championships will be one to watch out for. 

Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen’s recent form is troubling, to say the least. Having said that, the 21-year-old is one of the strongest singles players in the Indian ranks. The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal winner was the runner-up in the All England Open last time around. He will hope to use the stage to turn his season around.

P.V. Sindhu

P.V. Sindhu will be one of the big names in the Women’s Singles category. The two-time Olympic medal winner is unseeded due to her recent performances and struggles with injury. She would aim to better her second-round finish in the 2022 edition of the All England Open Championships. 

Chen Yufei

Chen Yufei came mighty close to winning the All England Open Championship last year. She lost in the semi-final against the eventual winner Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. Heading into the 2023 edition of the tournament, the Chinese shuttler is the fourth seed and one of the favourites for the title in Women’s Singles. 

Tai Tzu-Ying

Similar to Chen Yufei, Tai Tzu-Ying also lost in the semi-final of the 2022 All England Open Championships. The shuttler from Chinese Taipei is the third seed in the run-up to the 2023 edition of the tournament and will be one to watch out for in the Women’s Singles category.

Antony Ginting

Men’s Singles is one of the most competitive categories at the All England Open Championships. Antony Ginting will be hoping to do better than the quarter-final finish last year in the tournament. He is the third seed in this category and might face Prannoy H.S. or Lakshya Sen later in the tournament as they all are in the same section of the bracket.

An Se-young

An Se-young is prolific and she will aim to finally win the All England Open Championships. She finished second last year, after losing in the final to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi. The World No.2 is also the second seed heading into the tournament. She finished as runner-up in the Malaysian Open earlier this year, losing again to Yamaguchi.

Jonatan Christie

Jonatan Christie is a joy to watch. He is the second seed in Men’s Singles and is one of the few individuals who can stop the top seed from defending the title. The World No.2 in BWF rankings reached the quarters last time around but is one of the favourites in the 2023 edition. 

Akane Yamaguchi

Akane Yamaguchi is the top seed heading into the 2023 All England Open Championship. She is the reigning champion and will be a huge favourite to win the Women’s Singles title once again. The two-time World Championships gold medal winner is also the World No.1 heading into the tournament.

Viktor Axelsen

Many regard Viktor Axelsen as the greatest European shuttler. The World No.1 player in Men’s Singles rankings is the reigning champion of the All England Open Championship in this category. The shuttler from Denmark also won the Malaysian Open earlier this year.