11 March 2024
The all-English mixed doubles affair will kick off home involvement in the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2024.
There is only one match that features English players on the opening Tuesday at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, but it is one that sees home players on both sides of the court.
Jenny and Gregory Mairs will take on Lauren Smith and Marcus Ellis in the mixed doubles with their match scheduled to be the penultimate one on 12Bet Court.
The winners will face either Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia or fifth seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China.
The Mairs lost out in the first round in 2023 as they were beaten 15-21 21-9 21-19 by Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, last year’s YONEX All England Open was only Smith and Ellis’s second competition of 2023 after injury blighted the beginning of their campaign.
ONE. MORE. DAY
The 2024 YONEX All England is kicking off tomorrow 🤩
Last year’s winners Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 🇰🇷 came in as the no 6 seeds and prevailed in an all-Korean final! 👏
It’s all happening in Birmingham this week! Be there 🎟️ https://t.co/BAuANumaHF pic.twitter.com/cxbv99aYTa
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 11, 2024
The pair lost 21-16 21-17 to Japanese pair Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya in the round of 32 last time out.
Speaking ahead of the competition, Ellis said: “In all honesty, I probably wasn’t fully ready at last year’s YONEX All England, and I was disappointed with the performance.
“I’m happy with where I am now. I’m starting to get some consistency and I’ve learned what works for me, and certainly what doesn’t work for me.
“It’s a huge year for us. Outside of an Olympics or a World Championships, the All-England is everything to us.
“It’s an event where we don’t want to disappoint ourselves or the people that come to watch, we want to put on a show and a good performance.”
Ellis and Smith are currently ranked 28th in the world, 12 places above the Mairs, and the two have only met once before in international competition.
Smith and Ellis triumphed 21-16 21-8 at the 2017 YONEX Dutch Open, going on to claim the mixed doubles title in Almere.
Fans not lucky enough to have tickets can watch live coverage on both the BBC and on TNT Sports, for more information on the coverage click here.
The Yonex All England Open takes place at Utilita Arena in Birmingham between 12-17 March, tickets can be purchased here.
