The All England Championships, badminton's oldest and most prestigious tournament, have always been a white whale for Indian players. The 2025 edition which begins Tuesday, in a year without a major multi-sport even, will therefore be a significant goal for India's top names.
Only two Indians have ever won the title - Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001), and their stature makes it a tournament most coveted by top Indian badminton players. Curiously, though, it's also been one where most of India's current (golden) generation have not made major inroads at. Only Saina Nehwal (2015) and Lakshya Sen (2022) have made the singles final in recent history.
This edition won't be any easier, with a challenging draw and a general lack of form from India's A Team, as seen through this new season, most starkly at last month's Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship. Indeed, this is a comeback after a break of almost a month for the top-ranked Indians, which makes it tricky to predict their match readiness. The only Indians with a seeding are the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, which means the rest of the contingent will run into seeded opponents early, with the Super 1000 tournament attracting the biggest names in the sport.
Here's a look at Indians draw and chances at the 2025 All England Open Badminton Championships:
Men's Singles
Lakshya Sen
HS Prannoy
Lakshya Sen, who had reached the semifinals last year amid a resurgent run, will hope to recapture the form he had found in 2024's European swing. He has had yet another indifferent start to the season with just 1 win on the BWF Tour and two first-round exits.
He starts against Koki Watanabe, who he leads 3-1 in the head-to-head. A win will likely pit him against defending champion and third seed Jonatan Christie - with whom he shared an interesting rivalry. The Indonesian beat the Indian in the All England semis last year but the Lakshya knocked him out of the Paris Olympics in the group stage, setting the tone for one of his best runs last year, which ended with a fourth-placed finish.
HS Prannoy, who is relying on a protected ranking after an illness-ravaged end to last season, starts against Toma Popov in what is their first meeting. Last week at the Orleans Masters, he didn't look his best self in an second-round loss. If he can pull through this, a tough battle awaits him in the winner of Li Shi Feng, the 6th seed, and after that, Antony Sinisuka Ginting, last year's runner up.
And if both win their first two rounds - tough, given Prannoy's physicality and the competition - we could see an all-Indian quarterfinal clash. Wouldn't that be a throwback to better times in Indian badminton?
Women's singles
PV Sindhu
Malvika Bansod
All eyes will be on PV Sindhu, who is returning from an injury niggle which saw her pull out of the BAMTC. She has played only two tournaments this year, and has a quarterfinal and first round exit, which tells us little of her mindset and preparation. The All England will be a major goal for this version of PVS and her performance in the next week will be crucial for her own mental assessment as much as for the stats.
The 29-year-old starts against world No 22 Kim Ga Eun, who she has beaten once back in 2019. If she gets a win, she runs into Chinese 4th seed Han Yue, who Sindhu has a good 7-1 record against. If she does proceed, she may play 5th seed and new, persistent thorn in her side, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. The Indonesian, of course, had beaten her at the Indian Open quarterfinal earlier this year.
At the other end of the spectrum, Malvika Bansod will look to stake her claim as India's Next Gen. She has broken into the Top 30 and is making main draws, now she has to take the next step towards weekly consistency. The 23-year-old, though, has an injury cloud over her, having withdrawn mid-match last week. She starts against Yeo Jia Min, who has beaten her in their only meeting so far on tour. A win likely pits her against 3rd seed Akane Yamaguchi, who leads her 3-0.
Men's Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy - Chirag Shetty
As has been the case recently, especially over the last year or so, India's best chance of a trophy lies in men's doubles. More specifically, in Satwik-Chirag. However, this tournament may be a difficult one for Satwik, who lost his father a few weeks ago. In such a case, it's hard, even wrong, to predict their form and mindset. That he will be competing -- as suggested by Chirag's social media post from Birmingham -- is noteworthy.
The Indian 7th seeds start against Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard, who have beaten the Indians in their only meeting last year. However, their quarter is full of big threats: second seeds Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin, who had beaten them in the India Open semifinals; Seo Seungjae and his new-old partner, Kim Wonho who they lost to in the Malaysia Open semis; Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh, who beat them in the Indonesia Masters. All in January this year.
In short, not an easy time and not an easy field but currently if there is anyone from Indian badminton capable of battling through tough barriers, it's SatChi.
Women's Doubles
Treesa Jolly - Gayatri Gopichand
Tanisha Crasto - Ashwini Ponnappa
Priya Konjengbam - Shruti Mishra
There are three Indian pairs in the fray. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who start against Sung Shuo-yun and Yu Chien-hui. Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who play Hsieh Pei-Shan and Hung En-Tzu. And the young Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, who start against the world No 1 and undisputed top seeds Baek Hana and Lee Sohee.
A deep run from any of the pairs is not expected, however Treesa-Gayatri are former two-time semi-finalists at All England and will want to prove they still have the spark that made their breakthrough runs in Birmingham so special.
Mixed Doubles
Sathish Karunakaran - Aadya Variyath
Dhruv Kapila - Tanisha Crasto
Rohan Kapoor - Ruthvika Gadde
There are three Indian pairs in mixed doubles too, as the discipline sees increased top-level participation from Indians. Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath start against 7th seeds Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto play Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde take on Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan in the opener.
It is, though, tough to have huge hopes from what is a young and inexperienced contingent but playing in Birmingham should give them a good boost.