Indian men’s singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth will open his campaign against world No 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark at the 2024 All England Open Badminton Championships beginning on March 12.
In the draws that were revealed on Tuesday, alongside Srikanth, HS Prannoy (seeded seventh), Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat will also feature in the men’s singles event.
Prannoy, the highest-ranked Indian in men’s singles, will face Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang while Sen takes on Ng Tze Yong in the opening round of the Super 1000 tournament. Rajawat will play Indonesia’s Chico Ora Dwi Wardoyo in the opening round.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will make her return to the BWF World Tour when she faces Germany’s Yvonne Li in the opening round of the women’s singles category.
Aakarshi Kashyap is the other Indian women’s singles shuttler to feature in the main draw of the tournament and will take on Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
In men’s doubles, the top-ranked duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Mohammed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, the latter finishing as runners-up in the 2023 edition.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will begin their campaign against the Indonesian pair of Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti. The Indian pair, one of three duos representing the country in the women’s doubles category, exited the 2023 edition in the semi-final, losing to eventual runners-up from South Korea, Baek Hana and Lee So Hee.
The higher-ranked Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam of Hong Kong. The Panda sisters, Rutuparna and Swetaparna, will face Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in their opening match.
There are no Indian entries in the main draw of the mixed doubles category.
The Indian women’s team, featuring Sindhu, Ponnappa, Crasto, Jolly, Gopichand and Kashyap, recently won India’s first-ever gold medal at the Asian Badminton Team Championships earlier in Malaysia. The men’s team, featuring Sen, Rankireddy, Shetty, Prannoy and Srikanth, crashed out in the quarter-final stage, losing to Japan.
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