21 February, 2023
The draws for the 2023 YONEX All England Badminton Championships have been revealed with four English pairings set to star at the event in Birmingham.
In the men’s doubles Sean Vendy and Ben Lane will fly the English flag, while Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith will continue the renewal of their partnership in the women’s doubles.
Smith will also be in mixed doubles action alongside Marcus Ellis – making his return from hip surgery – while Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore will pair up.
Lane and Vendy have been handed a blockbuster draw with the duo – who pushed Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi all the way in the second round a year ago – facing Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.
The Chinese pairing are fifth seeds in the draw, and won one of the biggest titles of their partnership at the BWF World Tour Finals towards the end of last year.
Meanwhile, after not competing in the event together last year, Birch and Smith will start their campaign against Srivedya Gurazada and Ishika Jaiswal.
The young American duo are a recently formed partnership, with Gurazada having reached her first BWF Tour final alongside a different partner last season.
Should Birch and Smith prevail in that contest, they will most likely face Malaysian fifth seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the second round.
In mixed action, former All England semi-finalists Smith and Ellis will look to start their return to tour with some solid performances.
And their campaign begins versus the unseeded Japanese pairing of Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya, who were bronze medallists at the World Championships back in 2021.
Fifth seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China are potential second round opponents for Ellis and Smith should they win their opener.
Mairs and Moore are also returning to the All England, with unseeded South Korean pairing Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun their first round test.
A tough match against second seeds and two-time defending champions Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino will most likely await in round two if Mairs and Moore triumph.
Full draw details can be found here
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