LONDON, 8 March 2005 — Badminton’s elite gathers in Birmingham this week for the All England Championships in what is effectively a rerun of last year’s Olympic tournament.
With the exception of four South Korean doubles players and Indonesia’s men’s singles bronze medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro, all of badminton’s 24 Athens medalists will be in action at the $125,000 event, dubbed the “Wimbledon” of the sport.
Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, twice an All England runner-up, is seeded only six but looks to have an easier run than defending champion Lin Dan.
The Chinese has to negotiate local favorite and English champion Aamir Ghaffar before a potential quarterfinal with world champion Xia Xuanze of China followed by a likely semifinal with powerful third seeded Dane Kenneth Jonassen.
In the opposite half of the draw, 2004 runner-up Peter Gade of Denmark has a first round tie with Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia. The 2002 champion and fourth seed Chen Hong has drawn Welshman Martyn Lewis as his first opponent.
Outside the men’s singles, the mixed doubles event looks to hold most attraction with English fans hoping to see Olympic silver medalists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms reach their first All England final.
The couple is set to play Athens conquerors Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China in the semifinals and the home crowd may just lift them through. The six-day All England tournament, starting today, also offers pointers to the world championships in Anaheim in California in August.
