4 March, 2025
Sean Vendy and Ben Lane have been presented with a favourable opening draw in the prestigious 2025 YONEX All England Open as the English pairings discover who they will face in the round of 32.
The draw has been made for all five disciplines in the competition as the countdown to the world’s oldest badminton tournament that kicks off in Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on March 11 continues.
Lane and Vendy will play Malaysian duo Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo in the men’s doubles round of 32 and will hope to better their performance at the competition last year.
Ong and Teo are currently ranked 20th on the World Tour, with the English duo ranked 12th, though both were defeated in R32 at the event last year.
Should Lane and Vendy progress, they could meet eighth seeds Jhe-Huei Lee and Po-Hsuan Yang from Chinese Taipei, who were semi-finalists at the tournament last year, in the next round.
England have two representatives in the mixed doubles, with Gregory Mairs and Jenny Mairs handed a draw against eighth seeds Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito from Japan.
Neither pair, however, made it past the round of 32 last year and the Mairs duo will be hoping they can be the ones to better their placing this time out.
ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL YONEX ALL ENGLAND 2025 !!
Start packing your bag and plan your travel to Birmingham, it’s almost time for #AlltheAction to start
Quick get your tickets: https://t.co/YmQbBWIM1L#YAE25 #AllofBadminton #MakingHistory #Badminton #ONEWEEKTOGO pic.twitter.com/JXguLytVxe
— Yonex All England Badminton Championships (@YonexAllEngland) March 4, 2025
Callum Hemming and Estelle van Leeuwen make up the other English pair to compete in the mixed doubles, having not featured at the competition last year.
They will face a tough test in the form of fourth seeds Po-Hsuan Yang and Ling Fang Hu from Chinese Taipei.
While the pair only reached the round of 32 last year, Yang placed third in the men’s doubles and will hope to better that performance in the mixed doubles this year.
Rounding off the English representation in Birmingham, Van Leeuwen will join Chloe Coney to compete in the women’s doubles.
They have been drawn against Danish pair Amalie Cecilie Kudsk and Signe Schulz in the round of 32.
