Badminton - All England Badminton Championships

The All England Open Championships is widely regarded as one of the most illustrious and esteemed badminton tournaments in the world. It is the badminton equivalent of 'Wimbledon' in tennis. The first championships were held in 1899, in London.

In the first year of competition only mens doubles, womens doubles and mixed doubles were played. However, singles events were added to the competition from the following year. The tournament has been run annually ever since, with the exception of 1915-1919 (World War I) and 1940-1946 (World War II).

The tournament was regarded by players and fans alike as the 'unofficial World Championships', until 1977 when the International Badminton Federation (Now known as the BWF) introduced an official event. However, the All England has remained very popular amongst the players, and is still regarded as one of the most prestigious events on the circuit.

Yonex All England

The brand Yonex has become synonymous with the All England Championships in recent years. Yonex have exclusively sponsored the event since 1984. This has been instrumental to their recent dominance in the sport.

Venue

The tournament is currently played at the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham, although this has only been the case since 1994. Previously to this the tournament has always been held in London, most famously at Wembley Arena from 1957-1993. The badminton competition at the London 2012 Olympics will see a return to the famous hall in Wembley.