All England Open Badminton Championships 2023: Two decades since P. Gopichand won the title, it’s time for India to win one more

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, seeded at No. 6, have reached a stage where they could win any title, given a few breaks and injury-free good form. (Image source: Twitter/SachinRT)

It’s been 22 years since an Indian won a title at the All England Open Badminton Championships. Not that there is a rich or enduring legacy of Indian winners at badminton’s prestige event. Only two Indians have won here, Prakash Padukone in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Gopichand’s win came 21 years after Padukone’s—perhaps now, 22 years since, this year’s edition that will run from March 14-19 will tie the numbers neatly.

Indians at the All England have come close, getting into the finals and semi-finals enough number of times to warrant optimism. There have been medals at other major events, the World Championships, the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, so why not in England?

Lakshya Sen, who has slid down the rankings a bit to be now out of the top 10, was a finalist here in 2022, losing to the world’s best player Viktor Axelsen. P.V. Sindhu was a semi-finalist in 2021, her best result after 2018 when she made the last four as well.

But 2023 has not started impressively for Sen. He lost to H.S. Prannoy in the Malaysia Open first round, was eliminated in the round of 16 of the India Open, in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters and the opening round of the German Open. His first-round opponent at the All England is the formidable fifth-seeded Chou Tien-Chen, who beat Sen in Indonesia last June and was 2022’s All England semi-finalist.

Sindhu is just returning from a long injury break—she didn’t play much last year after winning the Singapore Open in July and the Commonwealth Games gold medal. She hasn’t won a match this year, losing to nemesis Carolina Marin in the Malaysian Open in January and in the first round of the India Open. She recently parted ways with coach Park Taesang, choosing to train with Malaysian Hafiz Hashim, a former winner of the All England.

“She has made disappointing moves in all recent matches, and as a coach, I feel responsible,” Park posted on an Instagram message in February. “So she wanted a change and said she would find a new coach. I decided to respect and follow her decision. I’m sorry that I can’t be with her until the next Olympics, but now I’m going to support her from afar.”

The draw for the other Indian contenders remains as tricky. Prannoy faces Wang Tzu-wei in the first round, but should he clear that hurdle, he could possibly face the difficult third seed Anthony Ginting. Sen and Prannoy could possibly meet in the third round.

K. Srikanth might fancy his chances against Toma Junior Popov, but has No. 7 seed Kodai Naraoka and No. 4 seed Lee Zii Jia as possible future round opponents. Srikanth too hasn’t won a match this year on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) circuit, but then he has run into players like Kenta Nishimoto and Axelsen in his first rounds.

Saina Nehwal rounds off the singles challenge for India, though given her recent form and fitness, her chances of making it too far into the tournament are slim. Nehwal did make it to the final of the tournament in 2015 besides two semi-finals.

The strongest chance for an Indian medal remains in the doubles, which has Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty seeded at No. 6. The incandescent duo, who were so instrumental in India’s Thomas Cup title win last year, have reached a stage where they could win any title, given a few breaks and injury-free good form. They have won two Super Series titles, a World Championships bronze and a Commonwealth Games gold. The only thing missing is that one big title.

For all the gains badminton has made in the last many years, with Nehwal’s pioneering efforts that are now also reflecting on the men’s results, the All England remains elusive, though some have come close. Sindhu’s world title in 2019 that followed the 2106 Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro promised so much, but has not yet translated to a title at the All England. If it took two decades for India’s second title at this event, the follow up to that should have taken much less.

Beyond the Indians, Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn is one of badminton’s most exciting players, having just beaten Axelsen in the Indian Open. The sixth seed should be the player to watch, with a genuine title chance and at 21, brimming with promise.

The All England, like Wimbledon in tennis Grand Slams, gets the status of being the first among equals, a purely perceived position. The World Championships and the Olympics are for the players just as—if not more—important. But the All England, like Wimbledon, has history, which makes it special, in a sentimental way, something that many players claim to cherish. An Indian win next week would give the sport another much-needed boost.