All is in readiness for the start of the 2025 edition of the All England Open Badminton Championships, the world's oldest and arguably the most prestigious annual badminton tournament. The BWF Super 1000 event will be held from March 11 to 16 at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. (More Badminton News)

Kuuba, despite a promising start to the second game, was unable to sustain the momentum against the two-time Olympic medalist. Sindhu's experience and accuracy proved too much for the Estonian, as the Indian swiftly extended her lead to secure the match.

Started in 1899, the Championships have popularly come to be known as the All England Open. Chinese legend Lin Dan is the most successful player at the tournament in the Open era with six men’s singles titles to his name. Indonesia's Jonatan Christie is the defending men’s singles champion while Spanish star Carolina Marin annexed the women’s singles crown in 2024.

As for India, Prakash Padukone became the country's first-ever All England champion in 1980. The triumph also made him the first men’s singles All England title victor in badminton’s Open era, which began in late 1979.

Pullela Gopichand, who was in the news recently for his strong views on players aspiring to make a careers in sports, is the only other Indian to win the prestigious title. He won it in 2001 and no Indian has claimed the honours yet,ijogo slots something which rankles considering the giant strides Indian players have made on the international circuit.

And hence, the Indian contingent will aim to make amends this time around. Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will shoulder Indian hopes in the men's singles category, while PV Sindhu and Malvika Bansod will lead the women's singles charge.

In men's doubles, the ace pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will represent the nation, while women's doubles will have two Indian pairs competing in the form of Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto and Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra. In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto and Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde will be in action.

The draws are unveiled, and the exact order of play will come closer to the start. The first round in each category will be the round of 32, followed by the round of 16, quarter-finals and so on. The finals will be played on March 16.

The telecast and live streaming details of All England Open 2025 are not known yet. We will update this space as and when there is a development.ssvip