Badminton 2022 European Championships draw sees opening round byes for top seeds Carolina Marin and Viktor Axelsen
The Spaniard is set to make her comeback from injury on home soil in Madrid, with a view to securing an historic sixth-consecutive title, while Axelsen aims for his third title.
Badminton
Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin is set to return to competition at badminton's 2022 European Championships in Madrid, Spain, from 25-30 April.
The five-time title holder has recovered from the ACL injury that prevented her from competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
With no European Championships held in 2020 due to the global pandemic, Marin can expect plenty of home support as she sets her sights on a sixth-consecutive title on home soil.
The Rio 2016 Olympic champion is the top seed for the women's tournament and will enjoy a bye in the opening round. She will begin her title defence against Katerina Tomalova from the Czech Republic in the second round.
The women's singles will also see several Danish contenders for the crown including second seed Mia Blichfeldt, fourth seed Line Christophersen and seventh seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.
Blichfeldt won bronze back in 2018, and will open her campaign against Ukrainian World No. 119 Polina Buhrova.
Christophersen, who will be hoping to avenge her loss to Marin in last year's final, faces Slovenia's Petra Polanc in her opening match. Her rematch with the top seed could take place in the semi-finals should they both progress that far.
Elsewhere, Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour - a three-time Olympian ranked No. 19 in the world - will go up against Gayle Mahulette from the Netherlands for a place in the third round.
Unfinished business between Axelsen and Antonsen
In the last edition of the European Championships in 2019, fans had hoped to see Danish compatriots Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen battle it out for the title. However, the reigning Olympic champion tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the final and had to concede a walkover to his Antonsen.
Axelsen is seeded first this year and enjoys a bye in the opening round before beginning his campaign against France's Alex Lanier - ranked 145 in the world. Lanier is only 17-years-old and, is almost certainly a star of the future.
Antonsen meanwhile is seeded second and will begin his title defence against Kai Schaefer from Germany who is ranked 81 in the world.
While the rankings point to an all-Denmark final, we should not ignore the French firepower that could upset the form book. Fifth seed Toma Junior Popov has won four World Tour titles including the recent Orleans Masters, indicating that he is in good form. Drawn in the bottom half of the table, the 23-year-old will likely need to beat Antonsen if he wants a shot at the title.
Veteran sixth seed Brice Leverdez also has the potential to pull off an upset, having won bronze at the 2018 edition of this tournament.
Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen out to regain the title
Last year's men's doubles final was also impacted by positive COVID-19 cases, gifting Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov the title at the expense of Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel.
However, with the defending champions not playing in this tournament, the German second seeds have an opportunity to go one better. Lamsfuss and Seidel have a bye in the opening round and their first opponents will be England's Rory Easton and Zach Russ or Glib Beketov and Mykhaylo Makhnovskiy from Ukraine.
the top seeded pair are Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen - ranked 10th in the world. The duo have been struggling to find consistency in their performance in 2022, but know how to rise on the occasion as they did when they won bronze at the 2021 World Championships.
Astrup and Rasmussen, who won the title in 2018, should have an untroubled route to the semi-finals, where they could a major challenge in the shape of the Popov brothers from France in the semi-finals. Toma Junior and Christo are seeded fourth in the tournament.
Stoeva sisters eye title hat-trick
The Stoeva sisters dominated the women's doubles field last year to defend the crown that they won in 2018, and now have a unique opportunity to complete their hat-trick.
As the tournament top seeds, Gabriela and Stefani have a bye in the opening round and could face home favourites Clara Azurmendi and Beatriz Corrales, should the Spanish pair clear their opening hurdle.
The real threat for their title defence is likely to come from the Danish pairing of Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen or Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn who are seeded second and third respectively.
Both pairs will also begin their campaigns in the second round. Magelund/Ravn are in the top half of the table with the reigning champs, and could meet them in the semi-finals. If the Stoeva sisters beat the Danish duo, the form book suggest that Fruergaard/Thygesen will be waiting for them in the final.
The Bulgarians beat both couples en route to the title last year.
Too close to call in the mixed doubles
The mixed doubles field should prove a close competition between the top four seeds who all have byes in the opening round.
England's Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith are seeded first and will want to make up for last year's loss in the final to Rodion Alimov and Alina Davletova, who are not participating in this tournament.
French second seeds Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue made it as far as the quarter-finals last year and share the bottom half of the table with third seeds Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje from Denmark.
Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Lohau, who are seeded fourth, reached the quarter-finals of the 2021 World Championship in Huelva and will be looking to execute another successful outing on Spanish soil.