Badminton All England Open 2022: Preview, schedule and stars to watch 

The first Super 1000 event of badminton's 2022 World Tour season is right around the corner.

The All England Open will see the top badminton players from around the world gather at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England, where it's been held since 1994, from 16-20 March to compete one of the most prestigious trophies on offer.

Last year saw Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia clinch the men's singles title for the first time in his career while Japanese players dominated the other events, claiming every other crown on offer.

Okuhara Nozomi claimed her second women's singles while Watanabe Yuta was crowned twice in a day after first winning the men's doubles with Endo Hiroyuki and then returning to the court to clinch the mixed doubles with Higashino Arisa. Two-time world champions Matsumoto Mayu and Nagahara Wakana took home the women's doubles honours.

But a lot has changed since then with the crowning of new Olympic and world champions, and this tournament also marks the first major tournament of the year which will give us a glimpse into which players have managed to gain ground during the off-season and are ready to shine in 2022.

We break down the top things to know with Olympic medallists, world number ones and many more stars all set for action.

Players to watch

Men's singles

Malaysia Lee Zii Jia will be looking to defend his title. Seeded sixth for this tournament, the newly-independent player starts his campaign off against Japan's Nishimoto Kenta.

Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Viktor Axelsen, the player Lee beat in the 2021 All England final, is the top seed for this tournament and will kick off his efforts to reclaim the title against India's 2019 World Championship bronze medallist Sai Praneeth. If Axelsen manages to reach the quarterfinals, he could face Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who won bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Two-time world champion Momota Kento of Japan will be one to watch as he mounts a challenge to return to the top after winning the All England in 2019. He opens against Denmark's Hands-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus and could potentially play Lee in the quarter-finals.

Another exciting player to watch is Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, who has just moved into the top 10 in BWF's world rankings in a career-best ninth position. Last December, Loh became the first Singaporean to win a BWF World Championship title and the unseeded reigning world champion will face third seed Anders Antonsen in the opening round.

Women's singles

Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying is world number one and won the silver medal at Tokyo 2020. She's also had a lot of happy memories at the All England Open having won it on three occasions in 2017, 2018 and 2020. As the tournament top seed opening against Belgium's Lianne Tan, Tai will likely face her first real obstacle in the quarter-finals where she could meet fifth seed and defending champion Okuhara Nozomi.

Okuhara's compatriot Yamaguchi Akane is another favourite for the women's singles title. The reigning world champion has momentum on her side and she will be determined to add a first All England Open title to her resume. She came close in 2018 only to lose in the final to Tai Tzu Ying.

Yamaguchi is on the same side of the bracket as another powerhouse in Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Chen Yu Fei. The Chinese star is ready to go from strength to strength and has won an All England Open title before back in 2019. This will be the first time we see the reigning Olympic champ in action since clinching the crown in Japan.

Not to be forgotten is 2019 world champion and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu. It's been over a year since the Indian shuttler switched coaches and she has slowly been raising her game. Last year Sindhu finished runner-up in the World Tour Finals and recently picked up her first tour title since 2018 when she won the Syed Modi International in January.

Women's doubles

China's Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan will be the top-seeded pair desperate to get back to the top of the podium in this competition where they were in 2019. Chen and Jia finished with the silver medal at Tokyo 2020 after being beaten in the final by Indonesia's Apriyani Rahayu and Greysia Polii, who are seeded sixth at this tournament.

Having recently clinched their second world championship title, Chen and Jia will certainly be looking to add more accolades to their partnership this season, starting with the All England Open.

Of course one can't look past the defending champions. Japan's Matsumoto Mayu and Nagahara Wakana could face the prospect of a quarter-final with Chen and Jia, if all goes to plan.

One other team to keep an eye on will be Republic of Korea's Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan. Lee is a former All England Open champion, having won the competition in 2017, albeit with a different partner at the time in Chang Ye-na.

Men's doubles

Indonesia's Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, who won this event in 2017 and 2018, are top-seeded. The pair ended last season on a strong note, making the finals in all three of the events held in Bali at the end of the year and managed to clinch the Indonesia Open title.

They Indonesian contingent skipped the subsequent World Championships due to Covid-19 concerns and this will be the first time we get to see the duo back on court since the season-ending events in Bali

Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo are going to try everything they can to make it a three-peat for Japan in men's doubles at the All England Open after Endo Hiroyuki and Watanabe Yuta won in 2020 and 2021. The pressure will be on the reigning world champions who are seeded third for this tournament as they aim to kick start their season with a solid performance in England.

Despite speculation that they might be hanging up their racquets, Indonesian veterans Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan are still a force to be reckoned with. The tournament second seeds have proven time again that they are able to raise their game when it matters and are strong contenders for the title.

Malaysia's hopes for men's doubles glory in England will lie with Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.

Mixed doubles

Finally, the mixed doubles section looks set to be a thrilling competition. Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dongping from China start as the third seeds.

However, many will have the current world number one side as the favourites in Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai. They are still in search of their first All England Open title after finishing runners-up in 2020.

Their opponents that defeated them that day, Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti, are on the other side to the bracket, teeing up the possibility of a repeat of that final.

Badminton All England Open 2022 Schedule

The All England Open runs from 16-20 March, with the first round beginning on Wednesday 16 March from 9am local time (GMT).

There will be two rounds of action in the singles events before the quarter finals, which are slated for Friday 18 March.

Semi final and final action are scheduled to happen on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March.

You can find a full schedule on the official website here.