The season's first Superseries tournament, the All England Championships 2017, gets underway at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham from 7 March and will be played till 12 March.
The star-studded field contains quite a lot of big names from across the globe. While Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei is the top seed in Men's singles category, Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying will lead the Women's singles field. Six-time and defending champion Lin Dan also is making a return to the Superseries circuit after his Rio Olympic campaign last year along with reigning Olympic champion Chen Long. On the other hand, Carolina Marin and PV Sindhu will also resume their rivalry in Birmingham in the coming week.
The focus will be on Lin and Chong Wei as the two shuttlers, who have nine titles combined, might be featuring in their last All England tournament. While the world number one has not featured in any tournament in the new season and has recovered from a recent knee injury, Lin played the German Open last week and was ousted in the third round by unseeded Emil Holst.
Chen will also be looking to make his mark and clinch his third title while Dubai Superseries Finals winner Viktor Axelsen (third seed) returns to action along with compatriot Jan O Jorgensen (fourth seed).
Meanwhile, world number one Tai will be eyeing to dominate the Women's singles category but she will face stiff competition from 2015 champion Marin along with Thailand's top-ranked shuttler Ratchanok Intanon and South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun. Indian duo of Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will also be hoping to bring home their first title.
Malaysia have one more top seed apart from Chong Wei in Tan Wee Kiong/Goh V Shem in the Men's doubles category. The world number one pair, facing stiff competition from the likes of Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen and Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen, are eyeing their maiden title in Birmingham as well.
TV Schedule
Malaysia: AStro Supersport
China: LETV, GDTV
Taiwan: Sportcast
Thailand: True visions
Indonesia: Fox Sports
India: Star Sports
Australia: Fox Sports
Dubai: Dubai SPorts Channel
UK: BBC
Hong Kong: iCable, PCCW
Macau: TDM
Brunei: Astro
US: One World Sport
Denmark: TV 2
Seeding information
| Men's singles | Women's singles |
| 1. Lee Chong Wei (Mas) |
|
| 2. Jan O Jorgensen (Den) | 2. Carolina Marin (Esp) |
| 3. Viktor Axelsen (Den) | 3. Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) |
| 4. Son Wan Ho (Kor) | 4. Sun Yu (Chn) |
| 5. Chen Long (Chn) | 5. Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) |
| 6. Lin Dan (Chn) | 6. PV Sindhu (Ind) |
| 7. Tian Houwei (Chn) | 7. Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) |
| 8. Ng Ka Long (Hkg) | 8. Saina Nehwal (Ind) |
Key Matches on 8 March, Wednesday
Men's singles
Son Wan Ho v Sony Dwi Kuncoro - 6pm SGT
Anders Antonsen v Viktor Axelsen - 11:20pm SGT
Lee Chong Wei v Qualifier - 12am SGT (Thursday)
Zulfadli Zulkiffli v Lin Dan - 1:10am SGT (Thursday)
Chen Long v Marc Zwiebler - 1am SGT (Thursday)
Jan O Jorgensen v Hsu Jen Hao - 1am SGT
Women's singles
Tai Tzu Ying v Nichaon Jindapol - 6:40pm SGT
PV Sindhu v Mette Poulsen 9:40pm SGT
Saina Nehwal v Nozomi Okuhara - 9:40pm SGT
Carolina Marin v Line Kjaersfeldt - 2:20am SGT (Thursday)
Sung Ji Hyun v Fitriani Fitriani - 1:20am SGT (Thursday)
For full schedule, click here.
