All England Open Badminton Championships


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 Superseries status in 2007, upgraded to Superseries Premier status in 2011.
The world's first open tournament was held in the English town of Guildford in 1898, the success of which paved the way for the All England's inaugural edition, which was held at London's Horticultural Halls in 1899. Although the inaugural edition consisted of just the doubles format, the singles were introduced from the second edition onward. It was eventually considered – especially after the first Thomas Cup series in 1949 – the unofficial world championship of the sport until 1977, when the International Badminton Federation launched its official championships.
There were two instances when it was halted – from 1915 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1946.

Historical venues for the Championships

The tournament has been held at eight venues, and is now played at Arena Birmingham, Birmingham.
Years activeVenueLocation
1899–1901HQ of the London Scottish RiflesBuckingham Gate
1902Crystal Palace Central TranseptSydenham Hill
1903–1909London Rifles Brigade's City HeadquartersBunhill Row, Islington
1910–1939Lindley Hall, Vincent SquareWestminster, London
1947–1949Harringay Arena, North London StadiumNorth London
1950–1956Empress HallEarls Court
1957–1993Wembley ArenaWembley, London
1994–presentArena BirminghamBirmingham

Past winners

Full list

Below is the list of the most successful players in the All England Open Badminton Championships:
NameMSWSMDWDXDTotal
George Alan Thomas49821
Frank Devlin67518
Judy Devlin10717
Meriel Lucas610117
Finn Kobberø7815
Betty Uber14813
Tonny Ahm26412
Ethel B. Thomson54211
Margaret Tragett35311
Hazel Hogarth5611
Erland Kops7411
Gillian Gilks23611
Kirsten Thorndahl15511
Gao Ling6511
Henry Norman Marrett35210
Ulla Strand3710
Ralph Nichols5319
Donald C. Hume1449
Park Joo-bong459
Chung Myung-hee459
Marjorie Barrett549
Kitty McKane4228
Gordon Mack1618
Rudy Hartono88
Nora Perry268
Raymond M. White2417
Thelma Kingsbury2417
Eddy Choong437
Frank Chesterton336
Guy Sautter3126
June Timperley336
Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen66
Sue Devlin66
Tjun Tjun66
Johan Wahjudi66
Ra Kyung-min156
Kim Dong-moon246
Huang Sui66
Lin Dan66
Violet Elton55
Poul Holm145
Susan Whetnall325
Hiroe Yuki415
Etsuko Toganoo145
Chung So-young55
Ge Fei415
Yu Yang415
F. S. Collier314
Norman Wood2114
Albert Prebble314
G. L. Murray314
Lavinia Radeglia314
Herbert Uber134
Marje Henderson44
David Choong314
Wong Peng Soon44
Iris Rogers314
Tony Jordan44
Svend Pri134
Morten Frost44
Hwang Hye-young44
Susi Susanti44
Gu Jun44
Lee Chong Wei44
D. W. Oakes123
Daisy St. John123
Herbert Mellersh33
Stewart Marsden Massey33
Dorothy Cundall213
Margaret Stocks123
Eveline Peterson123
Frank Hodge33
Leoni Kingsbury213
Leslie Nichols33
Jørn Skaarup1113
Aase Schiøtt Jacobsen213
Margaret Varner213
Poul-Erik Nielsen213
Henning Borch33
Ng Boon Bee33
Derek Talbot33
Machiko Aizawa33
Christian Hadinata213
Liem Swie King33
Mike Tredgett33
Thomas Kihlström213
Li Lingwei213
Kim Moon-soo33
Li Yongbo33
Tian Bingyi33
Thomas Lund123
Gil Young-ah33
Ye Zhaoying33
Ha Tae-kwon33
Zhang Jun33
Xie Xingfang33
Tine Baun33
Wang Xiaoli33
Tontowi Ahmad33
Liliyana Natsir33
Zhao Yunlei123
Tai Tzu-ying33
Mary Graeme22
E. M. Moseley112
Ralph Watling22
Dorothea K. Douglass112
Edward Hawthorn112
Alice Gowenlock22
Muriel Bateman22
Marian Horsley112
Diana Doveton22
Tage Madsen112
Preben Dabelsteen22
Marie Ussing22
Ooi Teik Hock22
Heather Ward112
Karin Jørgensen22
Tan Yee Khan22
Margaret Boxall22
Eva Twedberg22
Ade Chandra22
Imelda Wiguna112
Margaret Beck112
Lene Køppen22
Zhang Ailing22
Rudy Heryanto22
Hariamanto Kartono22
Lin Ying22
Wu Dixi22
Martin Dew22
Han Aiping112
Kim Yun-ja112
Zhao Jianhua22
Jon Holst-Christensen112
Rudy Gunawan22
Hariyanto Arbi22
Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen22
Ricky Subagja22
Rexy Mainaky22
Tony Gunawan22
Gong Zhichao22
Candra Wijaya22
Chen Hong22
Jens Eriksen22
Martin Lundgaard Hansen22
Zheng Bo22
Zhang Yawen22
Cai Yun22
Fu Haifeng22
Wang Shixian22
Jung Jae-sung22
Lee Yong-dae22
Zhang Nan22
Mathias Boe22
Carsten Mogensen22
Chen Long22
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon22
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo22
Mohammad Ahsan22
Hendra Setiawan22
Huang Yaqiong22
Yuta Watanabe112
Praveen Jordan22

In the modern era players are less able to compete in multiple disciplines due to the differentiation of required skills and the physical demands of the game. Some men's and women's doubles players are able to compete successfully in mixed doubles. The last player to win in both singles and a doubles discipline was Li Lingwei of China who won women's doubles in 1985 then in women's singles in 1989.
Many female badminton players change their surname after marriage. Below are some of the former names or latest names as noted in the table above:

Performances by nation

Updated after the 2020 edition.
NationMSWSMDWDXDTotal
124392846.552189.5
2211421112188
320226241385
4154212648
5310121035-
61411.50.526
777.523.520
81120.54118.5
91718118
101320.56.5
1130.514.5
1233
1322
1411
1411
1411
170.50.5
170.50.5
Total109109110110110548-