Stars Return To All England 2024 After Struggling Against Injury

Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, often perform well at All England. (photo: bwf)

Sayaka Hirota, a former world number one, including one of several stars planned to return to the pitch in All England 2024 after being sidelined from the circuit in recent months due to injury.

Hirota's last match was the semifinals of Syed Modi International 2023 last December. The Japanese player suffered a left knee injury while performing a rally at a score of 11-9 in the opening game, after which he and Yuki Fukushima had to give up.

Hirota and Fukushima, who won All England in 2020, will compete against Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen in the first half.

Another player who tried to get through the injury problem was Pornpawee Chochuwong. The Thai player is in a good position at the end of last year's ranking by ranking in the semifinals at the HYLO Open.

However, the injury problem has made him only play two full games this year. This condition made his rankings drop to 16th place, and Supanida Katethong jumped over his position in Race to Paris. Now Chochuwong hopes to return to his best on the European tour as the qualifying period ends.

Meanwhile, there will be a lot of anticipation surrounding the performance of 'The Daddies' - who have returned to play after only playing one full game since November. Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan had to give up in the second round of the Malaysia Open. However, considering that they always find their best performance at All England, it will certainly be interesting to see how they act against the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty pair who are in their best form in their opening match.

Among the players who returned from injury were Mathias Christiansen. Christiansen, who is experiencing a condition known as the jumper's knee (tendinitis petellar), and Alexandra B wayje face Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito in the upper quarter.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Viktor Axelsen will face Kidambi Srikanth in his first stint in the tournament this time. Axelsen has only played once on a World Tour so far like when he reached the semifinals in Malaysia. This time he will try to get back to the top of the podium.

Similarly, world number one women's doubles champion Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, after only playing at the Malaysia Open 2024, will start their campaign to win the second All England title by facing Hsu Ya Ching/Lin Wan Ching in the first round.