ALL ENGLAND CHAMPS – Another year, another All England

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent, live from Birmingham.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto (live).

A hazy Birmingham morning greeted the first day of the 2013 Yonex All England Championships, and as this early morning fog burned off play got underway in the National Indoor Arena. Sadly this year without longstanding announcer John Gowers, the tournament will look to continue to provide the class show everyone has come to expect from the oldest badminton event.

No longer guaranteed to host the fixture in the future after Badminton England opened up the possibility of other cities hosting to the prestigious event (see here), the Birmingham National Indoor Arena has every reason to show itself worthy.

A small crowd greeted the first matches, increasing in volume at least, as the home players started to come on court on more importantly for the home crowd, progressing to the second round of qualifiers. The crowd found full voice in a tense men’s singles fixture between Ouseph (ENG) and Pawar (IND).

The matches on court were not the only events of the morning however as technical issues with the lights caused frustration for players and officials alike. Some of the reserve lights above courts 3 and 5 were turning on and off seemingly without control, all this eventually resulting in a bulb blowing leaving a glowing trail for a few seconds.

Hoping that their troubles were over, some players were left confused as the odd strand of silver confetti fell inexplicably fell from the gantry onto court.  However these minor distractions were short-lived as the days played got into full flow.

With only two walkovers and one retirement so far, the day has seen its fair share of badminton. An afternoon lull in the atmosphere was inevitable, but was remedied by acrobatics during a tight match between Danes Skovgaard / Kolding versus Labar / Quere of France, during which the famed Danish fans started to find their voice.

The home crowd faced some disappointments later in the day as players went out, although there is still a healthy UK presence in doubles disciplines. One of these players, Imogen Bankier, playing with Bulgarian Nedelcheva, faced an awkward moment as she caught her foot on a Birmingham court sticker, then proceeding to loudly peel it from the back of the court.

A hardcore crowd remain for the final events, but the day winds down for the real excitement of the main draw and the big names tomorrow.

The full results for the day can be found here

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