The 2021 All England Open (officially known as the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament which took place at

Utilita Arena Birmingham Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

in England from 17 to 21 March 2021. It had a total purse of $850,000.

Tournament

The 2021 All England Open became the second tournament of the

2021 BWF World Tour The 2021 BWF World Tour (officially known as 2021 HSBC BWF World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth season of the BWF World Tour of badminton, a circuit of 27 tournaments which led up to the World Tour Finals tournament. The 28 tourname ...

following the postponement of the 2021 German Open due to the ongoing pandemic. It was part of the

All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

championships, which had been held since 1899. This tournament was organized by

Badminton England Badminton England is the Sports governing body, national governing body for the sport of badminton in England. It aims to govern, encourage and develop the sport throughout England. Originally established in 1893 as the Badminton Association ...

and sanctioned by the

BWF BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

Venue

This tournament was held at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England.

Point distribution

Below is the point distribution for each phase of the tournament based on the BWF points system for the

BWF World Tour Super 1000 The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It is a competition open to the top world ranked players in singles (men's and women's) and doubles (men's, women's and mixed). The compet ...

event. This tournament would not be calculated in qualification ranking of

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Prize money

The total prize money for this tournament was US$850,000. Distribution of prize money was in accordance with BWF regulations.

Controversies

On 17 March 2021 night local time, BWF stated that all Indonesian players competing in the tournament, including all three who had won in the first round, were withdrawn from the tournament after 20 of 24 people from the team were contacted by the

NHS Test and Trace NHS Test and Trace was a government-funded service in England, established in 2020 to track and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The programme is part of the UK Health Security Agency; the service and the agency are headed by Jenny Harr ...

service via e-mail, and were required to enter 10-day isolation. They were contacted by the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

after someone on the same inbound flight from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

to Birmingham with the team was tested positive for COVID-19. The entire team was forced to walk on foot from the arena to the hotel as their shuttle service was prevented from taking them to the hotel. This sparked controversy between Indonesian players and the BWF. The Indonesians protested because 3 Indian players who are tested positive before the tournament, though 24 hours later tested negative after self testing, were allowed to play on the tournament, while all of Indonesian team members had tested negative for the virus. The start of the tournament itself had been delayed for five hours after 7 of COVID-19 results were deemed inconclusive. The

Badminton Association of Indonesia The Badminton Association of Indonesia (; 'All Indonesia Badminton Association'; abbreviated as PBSI) is the governing body of badminton in Indonesia. It was founded on 5 May 1951 in Bandung. The PBSI joined the Badminton Asia Confederation in 1 ...

(PBSI) also stated that Turkish badminton player

Neslihan Yiğit Neslihan is a Turkish feminine given name that means 'noble'. Notable people with the name include: * Neslihan Arın (born 1994), Turkish badminton player * Neslihan Atagül Neslihan Atagül (born 20 August 1992) is a Turkish people, Turkish ...

and her trainer who were on the same flight with the Indonesian team from Istanbul to Birmingham, but Yiğit was allowed to continue her tournament. On 18 March noon local time, Yiğit was announced to had also been withdrawn from the tournament by the BWF. Earlier, the first round of the men's doubles between Indonesians

Mohammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian retired badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is a three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games go ...

and

Hendra Setiawan Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Se ...

and English pair

Ben Lane Ben Lane (born 13 July 1997) is an English badminton player. He won the men's doubles silver medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 European Games, and also a bronze medal in the European Championships. Personal life Ben's mother Su ...

and

Sean Vendy Sean Vendy (born 18 May 1996) is a badminton player from England. He started playing badminton at aged 5 in Orkney, then moved to England at 7. He became part of the England national badminton team in May 2015. In 2022, he partnered with Ben La ...

sparked backlashes because of an arrangement where the service judge on duty, Alan Crow, was also English. However, according to the rules, BWF never explicitly prohibits a technical official to officiate a match involving athletes from the same country with the technical official against athletes from another country. Indonesian National Olympic Committee also alleged unprofessional and discriminatory treatment by BWF, as Indonesian team are not allowed to use lifts and take the bus by the organizers. On 22 March, the president of BWF

Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen is the former president of the Badminton World Federation and a retired Danish badminton player who won major international singles titles in the 1990s, and ranks among Denmark's badminton greats. In 2014, Høyer became a ...

officially apologizes to Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister for the circumstances faced by Indonesian team during the event.

Men's singles

Seeds

Kento Momota is a former Japanese badminton player. He has won several major badminton tournaments including becoming a two time World Champion, becoming a two time Asian Champion, and winning one All England title. Momota received a Guinness World Reco ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Viktor Axelsen Viktor Axelsen (born 4 January 1994) is a Danish badminton player. He is a two-time Badminton at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Champion, two-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and four-time European Badminton Championships, European Cha ...

''(final)'' #

Anders Antonsen Anders Antonsen (born 27 April 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He is a three-time World Championships medalist, two-time European Champion, and he has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the men’s singles discipline of BWF World Ranking. He ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (; born 20 October 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player. He first rose to senior prominence when he won the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, having won a 2014 Youth Olympic bronze in 2014. At the 2020 Olympics, ...

''(first round)'' #

Jonatan Christie Leonardus Jonatan Christie (born 15 September 1997) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in the singles discipline affiliated with the Tangkas Specs club. He won the 2024 edition of the All England Open. He won the men's singles tit ...

''(second round)'' #

Lee Zii Jia Lee Zii Jia ( zh, s=李梓嘉, poj=Lí Chú-ka, p=Lǐ Zǐjiā, born 29 March 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He is a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games, Asian champion and All England champion. He is best known for his smash, especi ...

(champion) #

Rasmus Gemke Rasmus Gemke (born 11 January 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He was awarded the 2012 Badminton Denmark Comet of the Year. He was part of the Danish national U-19 team to win bronze at the 2015 European Junior Badminton Championships in Lubi ...

''(second round)'' #

Srikanth Kidambi Srikanth Kidambi (born 7 February 1993) is an Indian badminton player. Known for his powerful smashes and quick footwork, he became the first Indian male to reach the World No. 1 ranking in the BWF World Rankings in April 2018. He made history ...

''(first round)''

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Women's singles

Seeds

Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...

''(withdrew)'' #

Nozomi Okuhara is a Japanese badminton player. A former World's number 1 in the BWF rankings for the women's singles, she is well known for her speed, agility and endurance. She won a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and gold medal at the 2017 World Champ ...

(champion) #

Akane Yamaguchi is a Japanese badminton player. She was a two-time world champion who won gold medals in the women's singles at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships. She was a member of the winning Japanese team at the Asian Junior Championships in 2012 and ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...

''(semi-finals)'' # P. V. Sindhu ''(semi-finals)'' #

Pornpawee Chochuwong Pornpawee Chochuwong (; born 22 January 1998) is a Thai badminton player. She was the girls' singles silver medalist at the 2015 Asian and 2016 World Junior Championships. She was also part of the Thai winning teams at the 2017, 2019 and 2021 S ...

''(final)'' # Mia Blichfeldt ''(quarter-finals)'' #

Busanan Ongbamrungphan Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Thai: บุศนันท์ อึ๊งบำรุงพันธ์; born 22 March 1996) is a Thai badminton player who specializes in singles. She was the women's singles gold medalists at the 2015 SEA Games, and ...

''(quarter-finals)''

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Men's doubles

Seeds

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian former badminton player who was ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation alongside Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has been a mem ...

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian former badminton player who was ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. Considered as one of the best players of his generation, he won the men' ...

''(second round)'' #

Takeshi Kamura is a Japanese badminton player. He was selected to join the national team in 2013 and retired in 2021. Kamura was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong Open, and r ...

Keigo Sonoda is a Japanese badminton player. He affiliated with the YKK AP Yatsushiro, before joining the Tonami team in 2010. Sonoda was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong ...

''(final)'' #

Hiroyuki Endo is a retired Japanese badminton player. He competed at the Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's doubles, 2016 Rio and Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's doubles, 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. In 2009, he joined the Unisys ...

/ Yuta Watanabe (champions) #

Fajar Alfian Fajar Alfian (born 7 March 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with the SGS PLN Bandung. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, the bronze medals at the 2017 SEA Games, 2019 and 2022 World Championships. H ...

Muhammad Rian Ardianto Muhammad Rian Ardianto (born 13 February 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player. Born in Bantul, Yogyakarta SR, Ardianto plays for the Jaya Raya Jakarta club at national events. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, th ...

''(withdrew)'' #

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (born 13 August 2000) is an Indian badminton player. Together with his men's doubles partner Chirag Shetty, he won the gold medal at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships. They are the only Indian ...

Chirag Shetty Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (born 4 July 1997) is an Indian badminton player. Partnering Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the men's doubles, he emerge victorius in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships. They are the only Ind ...

''(second round)'' #

Goh V Shem Goh V Shem (; born Goh Wei Shem; 20 May 1989) is a Malaysian badminton player in the doubles event. He was partnered with Tan Wee Kiong after their outstanding performance at the 2014 Thomas Cup. Together, Goh and Tan won the gold medal fo ...

Tan Wee Kiong Tan Wee Kiong (; born 21 May 1989) is a Malaysian badminton player in the doubles event. He had a partnership with Goh V Shem, which began at the 2014 Thomas Cup. Together, Tan and Goh won the gold medal in the men's doubles and the mixed t ...

''(second round)'' #

Marcus Ellis Marcus Ellis (born 14 September 1989) is a British badminton player. He was the men's doubles champion in the English National Championships. Ellis and Chris Langridge won a bronze medal in the Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's dou ...

Chris Langridge Christopher Phillip Langridge (born 2 May 1985) is a retired British badminton player. He competed for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won three medals. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and won a bronze ...

''(quarter-finals)''

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Women's doubles

Seeds

Yuki Fukushima is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Gifu Bluvic. She and her partner Sayaka Hirota won the 2017 Most Improved Player of the Year award. The duo were ranked as world No. 1 at the BWF World Ranking in 21 June 2018. Awards and nominati ...

Sayaka Hirota is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Gifu Bluvic team. She and her partner Yuki Fukushima won the 2017 Most Improved Player of the Year award. Hirota and Fukushima were ranked world No. 1 at the BWF World Ranking on 21 June 2018. Awa ...

''(final)'' #

Mayu Matsumoto is a Japanese badminton player. Born in Hokkaido, she graduated from Shiritsu Towanomorisanai High School. She was part of the Hokuto Bank team. Matsumoto was awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by the BWF together with her pa ...

Wakana Nagahara is a Japanese badminton player. She is a two-time world champion in the women's doubles. Nagahara attended Aomori Yamada High School, and was part of the Japanese national junior team that won the bronze medals at the 2013, 2014 Asian and 2014 ...

(champions) #

Greysia Polii Greysia Polii (; born 11 August 1987) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in doubles. She won gold medals in the women's doubles at the 2014 Asian Games, at the 2019 SEA Games and at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won three bro ...

Apriyani Rahayu Apriyani Rahayu (born 29 April 1998) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in doubles. She and Greysia Polii won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics champions in the women's doubles. She won gold at the 2019 SEA Games, and two br ...

''(withdrew)'' #

Jongkolphan Kititharakul Jongkolphan Kititharakul (; born 1 March 1993) is a Thai badminton player who specialized in doubles. She was the women's doubles gold medalist at the 2017 SEA Games, also part of the team that clinched the women's team gold medals in 2015, 2017 ...

Rawinda Prajongjai Rawinda Prajongjai (; born 29 June 1993) is a Thai badminton player. She was part of the national women's team that clinched the gold medal at the 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 SEA Games; and also won the women's doubles title in 2017. Started ...

''(first round)'' # Nami Matsuyama /

Chiharu Shida is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with the Saishunkan team. She is the bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Shida was part of the Japan winning team in the 2020 Asia Team Championships. She reached a career high as world number ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

Gabriela Stoeva Gabriela Stoeva (; born 15 July 1994) is a Bulgarian badminton player specializing in doubles. Her current partner is her younger sister, Stefani Stoeva. The pair is the four-time European Champion and two-time European Games gold medalist as wel ...

Stefani Stoeva Stefani Stoeva (; born 23 September 1995) is a Bulgarian badminton player specializing in doubles. Her current partner is her older sister, Gabriela Stoeva. They competed at the 2016, 2020 and the 2024 Summer Olympics. The duo together have won ...

''(second round)'' #

Chloe Birch Chloe Francesca Hannah Coney ( Birch; born 16 September 1995) is an English badminton player. Career She was introduced to badminton through school and started playing at age eight at Abbeydale Badminton Club. Birch received the Michael Vaugha ...

/ Lauren Smith ''(quarter-finals)'' #

Maiken Fruergaard Maiken Fruergaard Sørensen (born 11 May 1995) is a Danish badminton player, specializing in doubles play. As a junior player, she was the gold medalists at the 2013 European Junior Championships in the team and mixed doubles events, and in 2014 ...

Sara Thygesen Sara Thygesen (born 20 January 1991) is a Danish badminton player, specializing in doubles. She started playing badminton at Gårslev in 2002. She got an award for the best female athlete of the year 2007 in her hometown Fredericia. In 2014, she ...

''(quarter-finals)''

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Mixed doubles

Seeds

Praveen Jordan Praveen Jordan (born 26 April 1993) is an Indonesian badminton player who specialises in doubles. He is a two-time All England Open Badminton Championships, All England Open champion in mixed doubles, winning in 2016 with Debby Susanto and in 2 ...

Melati Daeva Oktavianti Melati Daeva Oktavianti (born 26 October 1994) is an Indonesian doubles specialist badminton player affiliated with Djarum club since 2008. She was the 2019 SEA Games gold medalist in the mixed doubles with Praveen Jordan, and 2012 World Juni ...

''(withdrew)'' # Yuta Watanabe /

Arisa Higashino is a Japanese badminton player. She won bronze in the mixed team event at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, Asian Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014, and competed at the 2014 BWF World Junior Championships, 2014 World Junior Champions ...

(champions) #

Chan Peng Soon Chan Peng Soon (born 27 April 1988) is a Malaysian former badminton player specialised in the mixed doubles event. He has had a partnership with Goh Liu Ying where they have been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles pair in th ...

Goh Liu Ying Goh Liu Ying (; born 30 May 1989) is a Malaysian former badminton player. She had been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles player in the world with her partner, Chan Peng Soon. Together, they were ranked as high as world No. ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

/ Lauren Smith ''(semi-finals)'' #

Goh Soon Huat Goh Soon Huat (; born 27 June 1990) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was a part of the Malaysia team that won bronze in the men's team event at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games. He switched to mixed doubles and paired up with Shevon Jemie Lai ...

Shevon Jemie Lai Shevon Jemie Lai (; born 8 August 1993) is a Malaysian badminton player. Career Lai started playing badminton at her primary school SJKC Kuen Cheng 2, then in 2011 she joined the Malaysia national badminton team. She competed at the BWF World ...

''(first round)'' #

Tan Kian Meng Tan Kian Meng (, born 1 June 1994) is a Malaysian badminton player who specializes in the doubles events. He is currently playing with Lai Pei Jing in mixed doubles. Originally a singles player, he switched to play in the doubles events since ...

Lai Pei Jing Lai Pei Jing (; born 8 August 1992) is a Malaysian badminton player who played in the doubles events. She started her career in the women's singles event. She briefly partnered Chan Peng Soon in mid-2014 and in August that year, they reached ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Thom Gicquel Thom Mark Gicquel (born 12 January 1999) is a French badminton player. Competing in the mixed doubles, he was able to reach the top 10 of the BWF world rankings with his partner Delphine Delrue. Together with Delrue, he won the gold medal in the ...

Delphine Delrue Delphine Aurore Delrue (born 6 November 1998) is a French badminton player. Delrue started playing badminton at aged seven, and she affiliate with the USEE Badminton club in 2006. Delrue was selected to join the national team in INSEP in 2016. I ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Chris Adcock Christopher Thomas Adcock (born 27 April 1989) is a retired English badminton player. Adcock is currently sponsored by Yonex and YC Sports and plays for the University of Nottingham-based NBL team. He entered the National team in 2006, and late ...

Gabby Adcock Gabrielle Marie Adcock (née White; born 30 September 1990) is an English retired badminton player. Career Gabby started playing badminton aged 10 in the badminton club at her school and became a full-time player straight from school at 16. S ...

''(withdrew)''

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

References

External links

Tournament link

Official website
{{All England All England Open Badminton Championships

All England All England International sports competitions in Birmingham, West Midlands Sports controversies