Badminton Asia Championships 2022: Preview, schedule, stars to watch

Asia's best badminton players will converge on the Filipino capital of Manila for the Asia Championships 2022 from 26 April to 1 May.

The premier event in the region makes its return after a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic and will see Japan's Momota Kento bid for his third consecutive title.

Reigning world women's champion Yamaguchi Akane will also be in action along with Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, PV Sindhu, and Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.

With the players eager to assert themselves and clinch the coveted Asian title, read on for some of the players to look out for and the tournament schedule.

What to watch for: Momota aiming for a hat-trick of titles

The storylines for each of the five disciplines are all fascinating in their own way.

Momota is the top seed for the men's singles, but his form is in question after several erratic performances leading to early tournament exits including a first-round defeat at March's German Open to compatriot Nishimoto Kenta.

The 27-year-old will need to return to something like his best if he is to secure a hat-trick of titles.

There are plenty in wings waiting to dethrone Momota including Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ginting, seeded second, and Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia who became an independent player earlier this year.

Indian youngster Lakshya Sen and reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew are also in with a chance of the title should they play to their potential.

The women's singles should be a fascinating event with reigning world champion Yamaguchi Akane continuing her on-court battle with South Korea's An Seyoung.

The pair, who are seeded first and second respectively, have met seven times in the past year including last month's All England Open final where Yamaguchi claimed a comfortable win.

The Japanese star leads their head-to-head 7-4, and is defending the title she won in Wuhan in 2019.

But with 2017 world champion Okuhara Nozomi and two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu also in the mix, fans can expect some exciting action.

China's hopes lay with He Bingjiao in the absence of reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.

The men's doubles sees Indonesia' veteran pairing of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan top the seeding ahead of reigning world champions Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo from Japan.

India's hopes will lie with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who kicked off their season by beating Ahsan/Setiawan to clinch the India Open title, and will no doubt be out to add to their medal collection.

Indonesia will be without former world No. 1 pairing of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, fondly known as 'The Minions', with fourth seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto ready to step up.

Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik will be looking to bounce back from their recent slump in form and shared with Olympics.com earlier, how they intend to take their game to the next level.

Both women's doubles pairs from the finals of the 2021 World Championships will be in action.

Reigning world champs Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan from China defend their Asian title in Manila and are seeded first ahead of South Korea's Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan.

Japan's three-time World Championship silver medallists Fukushima Yuki and Hirota Sayaka are not to be underestimated, nor are the up-and-coming duo of Shida Chiharu and Matsuyama Nami.

Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu will not be competing in the Philippines.

The mixed doubles category will have Olympic champions Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping out to clinch their third title in a row.

The Chinese duo will have to contend with compatriots and two-time world champions Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong.

Also in the mix are Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa while tournament fourth seeds Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti will fly the flag for Indonesia.

Malaysia tends to do well in the mixed doubles category and the nation will get behind their two pairings of Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai who are seeded seventh and eighth respectively.

Schedule: Manila set to host Asia Championship 2022, 26 April - 1 May

For the third time since the inception of the tournament in 1962, Manila will play host to the Asia Championships having also hosted it in 1969 and 2001.

The Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Manila is set to welcome the best players from Asia with competition getting underway on Tuesday (26 April) with the finals scheduled for Sunday (1 May).

All times are local Philippine Time (PHT) which is eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Tuesday 26 April

9:00 - Qualification & Preliminaries

Wednesday 27 April

9:00 - Preliminaries

Thursday 28 April

9:00 - Round of 16

Friday 29 April

16:00 - Quarter-finals

Saturday 30 April

13:00 - Semi-finals

Sunday 1 May

13:00 - Finals