Badminton World Championships 2022: Preview, schedule & how to watch the stars in action

The best badminton players in the world are set to take center stage at the BWF World Championships 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, from 22-28 August.

The competition is expected to be extremely close will all five reigning champions - Loh Kean Yew in men's singles, Yamaguchi Akane in women's singles, men's doubles pair of Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo, women's doubles pairing of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, as well as mixed doubles duo of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, all back to defend their respective titles.

This edition of the world championships will also mark the first time since the global Covid pandemic that all the biggest names will take to the court in the same tournament. Reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen will be looking to reclaim the title he won in 2017, as Momota Kento will aim to take advantage of being on home soil to clinch his third crown. Lee Zii Jia has also be selective in his tournaments leading up to the worlds as he aims to clinch Malaysia's maiden world championship title

In women's singles, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin will be out to win the title for an historic fourth time, as she continues her return from the injury that kept her out of the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021. The Spaniard can expect stiff competition from in form world No.1 and reigning world champion, Yamaguchi as well as reigning Olympic Champion Chen Yu Fei.

Also, it would not be wise to discount South Korea's An Seyoung, who is capable of beating anyone in front of them on their given day. The biggest name missing from the event is India's PV Sindhu who won the title in 2019, but will be missing this year due to injury.

You can read more about who luck favoured in the draw here, as we now share with you how to watch the stars in action, and the schedule of events for the BWF Badminton World Championships 2022.

What to watch for: Can anyone beat Viktor Axelsen?

Reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen is currently in the form of his life. The Dane is enjoying a stellar season having lost only one men's singles match on court during the current World Tour this season, albeit conceding two walkovers.

The 28-year-old has been near invincible, clinching four World Tour titles, two of them at Super 1000 events. He also picked up his third European title earlier this year and won all of his Thomas Cup matches for Denmark who made it as far as the semi-finals.

Axelsen will be back in the city where he won Olympic gold a year ago, but will be on a redemption mission this time in Japan after he crashed out in the opening round of the previous world champs, losing to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, who went on to clinch the title.

Can Momota Kento find his form at home?

Two-time world champion Momota Kento has not had the best comeback following his return to the sport after a tragic car crash and surgery. The Japanese has looked a shadow of his former self that saw him win eight World Tour events as well as the World Tour Finals titles in 2019.

We finally had a glimpse of what Momota could do when he won through to play Axelsen in the final of the Malaysia Open in July, but the 27-year-old looked as if he had lost his spark as he tamely fell to the Dane in straight Games.

But with the fans allowed back into the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, can they be just the catalyst that Momota needs to regain his killer instinct on court?

Lee Zii Jia out to make history

Since the inaugural edition of the world championships in 1977, no Malaysian has ever clinched a title across any of the five disciplines.

Lee Zii Jia would very much like to change that and has clearly stated that his main goal this summer is to target the this tournament. The 24-year-old, has opted against competing at several World Tour events this season as well as the recent Commonwealth Games so that he can focus his preparations to mount a challenge for the world title.

Will youth trump experience?

Amongst the younger players at the tournament, the one to watch has to be India's Lakshya Sen.

The 20--year-old who clinched bronze at his World Championship debut in Huelva will be looking to rise higher up the podium the second time of asking. He'll arrive in Tokyo high on confidence after clinching the men's singles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Sen is also the only player to have beaten Viktor Axelsen on court this season, when he overcame the Dane in the semi-finals of the German Open.

We also need to keep an eye on Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The 21-year-old is a three-time World Junior Champion, and recently clinched the men's singles title at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam. Although Vitidsarn has yet to record a win over the likes of Axelsen or Momota, he could very well be poised to pull off a first in Tokyo.

Carolina Marin in historic fourth title hunt

There is no doubt that Carolina Marin would like to put the disappointment of missing out on her home world championships behind her.

And what better way to do it than by winning the title for a record fourth time. But the Spaniard has not been a regular on tour as she has been easing herself back into competition after recovering from an ACL injury that prevented her from competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as well as the 2021 edition of this tournament.

While Marin did shine at the European Championships by clinching a record sixth title earlier this year, her results on the international stage have been less than impressive, as she was knocked out by lower ranked players in the second round at both the Indonesia and Malaysia Open events.

But Marin is one who knows when to turn it on and it would be foolish to write off the Olympic champion who has already proven that she can return from injury to clinch major titles.

Will Yamaguchi Akane take the reigns from Okuhara Nozomi

For a while, Okuhara Nozomi has been the lead women's singles player for Japan. After clinching bronze at Rio 2016, she went on to claim the World Championship title in 2017 before helping Japan lift the Uber Cup in 2018. She nearly came close to a second world title in 2019, but was beaten by a determined PV Sindhu.

After the disappointment of being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Okuhara has not ventured out for many tournaments. On the contrary, Yamaguchi Akane has been racking up victories on tour, including winning the All England Open this season which saw her rise to world number one.

A strong performance by the reigning world champion could be seen as the passing of the baton between Okuhara and Yamaguchi as the lead female player for Japan.

Can Chen Yu Fei return the crown to China?

No Chinese women's singles player has won the title since Wang Yihan stood on the top step of the podium in 2011.

Before that, the Chinese women were a powerhouse of the sport, winning 15 of the 19 titles on offer. The Asian nation will now look to the reigning Olympic champion to wrestle back the world championship title in the same city (but a different venue) where she clinched her Olympic crown a year ago.

Following in her footsteps are 25-year-old He Bing Jiao and 22-year-old Wang Zhi Yi who are seeded 9th and 11th respectively. The latter is one who has been rising through the rankings and could use this tournament as an opportunity to shine.

Schedule: Tokyo set to host BWF World Championships 2022, 22 - 28 August

For the first time in the tournament's history, Japan has been selected to host the World Championships.

The event will take place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium which hosted the table tennis competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Competition is set to get underway on Monday (22 August) and the finals scheduled for Sunday, (28 August).

All times are local Japan Standard Time (GMT+9).

Monday 22 August

09:00 : Last 64

Tuesday 23 August

09:00 : Last 64 / Last 32

Wednesday 24 August

9:00: Last 32

Thursday 25 August

10:00 : Last 16

Friday 26 August

10:00 : - Quarter-finals

Saturday 27 August

10:00 : Semi-finals

Sunday 28 August

15:00 - Finals

How to watch the action at the BWF World Championships 2022

The tournament will be broadcast by various television and digital live streaming rights holders across the different countries and territories around the world.

That includes Olympic Channel via Olympics.com, for free, in some countries (territorial restrictions may apply).

If you are unable to find a screen, be sure to follow our live blog on Olympics.com and follow @olympics on social media to stay abreast of all the results and news from the Badminton World Championships 2022.