The All England Badminton Open Badminton Championship is the oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament in the World. The World’s best players compete in England every year to win the highly coveted title. It is played since a time when Badminton was not included as an Olympic sport so winning the All England was as good as winning the Olympic title.
Also Read: History of Badminton: All you need to know
History
The All England was developed after the first-ever badminton Open Championships 1899 at Guildford, England. However, it included only men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. In the following year, the singles events were added. The first two tournaments were named- Badminton Association Tournament.
Notably, the All England Open was considered to be the highest level badminton tournament before the International Badminton Federation(IBF) launched the Badminton World Championship in 1977.
In 1984, Yonex stepped in as the official sponsor of the tournament. Since then it is known as the Yonex All England Badminton Championships.
In its long history, the Championships have not taken place only twice due to World War I (1915 to 1919) and World War II (1940 to 1946).
In 2007, the championships were introduced in the BWF Super Series event and later progressed into the BWF Super Series Premier event category in 2011.
Prize Money
The Prize money for the All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 is USD 850,000. It will be played at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, in Birmingham, England.
The Championship is a BWF Grade 2 1000 points Super Series Premier tournament which is the highest level of badminton tournaments organized by the BWF.
It is not the prize money that attracts shuttlers to the competition, instead, it is the credibility, fame, and recognition that the title offers.
Top Performing Country
The host country, England is the top-performing nation at the Championship winning 189.5 titles across all categories till 2020. It is followed by Denmark and China.
Maximum Titles won at the All England Open
India at the All England Open
- Shri Prakash Nath- Runner-Up(1947)
- Prakash Padukone- Winner (1980), Runner-Up(1981)
- Pullela Gopichand-Winner(2001)
- Saina Nehwal-Runner-Up(2015)