Live streaming, All England Open 2023 badminton: PV Sindhu looks for fresh start; Indians handed tough draws

India’s top badminton players, including a returning PV Sindhu, will be in action at the All England Open 2023 BWF Super 1000 tournament, which will be held from March 14 to 19 in Birmingham.

PV Sindhu has endured a start-stop season so far this year. After a long injury layoff following the Commonwealth Games 2022, PV Sindhu returned to competitive badminton with the Malaysia Open and India Open earlier this year, but exited both events in the first round.

The Indian badminton player did play a part in India’s bronze medal win at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023 in Doha but gave the Thailand and Indonesia Masters, as well as last week’s German Open a miss.

PV Sindhu also recently parted ways with her South Korean coach Park Tae-sang and will be looking for a fresh start at Birmingham - the same venue where she won the CWG gold last year. The two-time Olympic medallist will, however, need to dig deep to make any serious inroads at the All England Open this year.

Sindhu will face a tricky first round challenge against China’s Zhang Yi Man, a player she has lost to in the past, and may have to face He Bing Jiao and Tai Tzu Ying, the fifth and third seeds respectively, to be able to make the semis.

Saina Nehwal was scheduled to start against Han Yue but withdrew from the tournament late.

In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen, who reached the 2022 All England Open final, will look to emulate his performances from last year but will have to contend with the fifth seed Chou Tien Chen in the first round. In their two meetings so far, Lakshya Sen has never beaten the Chinese Taipei player.

Kidambi Srikanth, who is yet to win a single match on the BWF World Tour 2023 so far, will look for redemption as he faces France’s Toma Junior Popov in the first round. HS Prannoy, meanwhile, will kick off his campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei and may have to clash against Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, the third seed, in the second round.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, seeded sixth in the men’s doubles, are the only seeded Indians at the Birmingham meet. The two were set to play Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, aka the Minions, in their opener but the Indonesians have since pulled out and Chirag-Satwik will now face compatriots Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.

There will also be a special focus on Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, who were the surprise semi-finalists at the All England Open last year after entering the main draw as reserves. The duo will be up against the odds in the first round this time out as they face seventh-seeded Thai pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, who hold a 4-0 head-to-head record against the young Indian team.

Gayatri’s father Pullela Gopichand won the All England Open men’s singles title in 2001 and remains the last Indian to clinch top podium at the meet. Prakash Padukone, the 1980 men’s singles champion, is the only other Indian badminton player to have won a title at the prestigious badminton tournament.

Where to watch All England Open 2023 badminton live in India

Live streaming of the All England Open 2023 matches will be available on the Jio Cinema and Voot Select platforms in India as well as the Badminton World Federation’s official YouTube channel, BWF TV.

Live telecast of the All England Open will be available on the Sports 18 1 TV channel in India from the quarter-finals onwards.

All England Open 2023 badminton: India squad

Men’s singles

Main draw: Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy

Women’s singles

Main draw: PV Sindhu

Men’s doubles

Main draw: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (6), MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala

Women’s doubles

Main draw: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly, Ashwini Bhat K/Shikha Gautam

Mixed doubles

Main draw: Ishaan Bhatnagar/Tanisha Crasto