Birmingham: If you are looking for top-tier badminton news, the 2026 YONEX All England Open in Birmingham is delivering absolute fireworks. Fans were treated to an incredibly tense all-Malaysian second-round showdown, proving just how deep the talent pool in world badminton really is right now.
Second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were pushed to their absolute limits. They had to dig deep to fend off a spirited challenge from national teammates Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King, eventually securing their quarter-final ticket with a hard-fought 21-15, 18-21, 21-18 victory.
Watch: Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik vs. Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King Highlights
Friday’s quarter-final guarantees Malaysia a spot in the semis, as Chia and Soh will face off against the 6th-seeded duo of Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun. Man and Tee looked sharp in their second-round match, taking just 32 minutes to dispatch Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin 21-14, 21-18, marking their second consecutive victory over the Taiwanese pair.
In other men’s doubles action, the fairy-tale run of young Malaysian pair Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing came to an end. After their massive upset over No. 4 seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the opening round, the youngsters fell to last week’s German Open champions, Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China, 19-21, 17-21.
Chen and Liu advance to meet Indonesia’s Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Rahmat Hidayat, who just survived a grueling battle against the 8th-seeded Malaysians Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, winning 23-21, 21-16.
Massive Upset in the Mixed Doubles Bracket
In what might be the biggest shock of the tournament so far, unseeded Danish pair Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch are tearing through the mixed doubles draw. After eliminating China’s Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi in the opening round, the giant-killers took down the tournament’s No. 1 seeds, Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping.
The Danes bounced back from a first-game deficit to win a thriller, 18-21, 21-18, 21-17. They’ll look to keep their Cinderella story alive against Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet in the quarter-finals.
Women’s Doubles: Pearly and Thinaah Cruise Through
Malaysian fans had more to cheer about in the women’s doubles draw. Second seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan put on a clinical display of high-speed badminton, taming South Korea’s Lee Seo Jin and Lee Yeon Woo with a comfortable 21-14, 21-14 victory. They now look ahead to a quarter-final clash with Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari.
All England 2026 Quarter-Final Lineups
As the tournament narrows down to the elite eight, here is how the singles brackets are shaping up for Friday:
Men’s Singles Quarter-Finals
- Lakshya Sen (IND) vs. Li Shi Feng [6] (CHN)
- Koki Watanabe (JPN) vs. Victor Lai (CAN)
- Christo Popov (FRA) vs. Lin Chun-Yi [5] (TPE)
- Alwi Farhan (INA) vs. Kunlavut Vitidsarn [2] (THA)
Women’s Singles Quarter-Finals
- An Se Young [1] (KOR) vs. Putri Kusuma Wardani [6] (INA)
- Chen Yu Fei [3] (CHN) vs. Pornpawee Chochuwong [8] (THA)
- Line Christophersen (DEN) vs. Akane Yamaguchi [4] (JPN)
- Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN) vs. Wang Zhi Yi [2] (CHN)
Stay tuned for more daily badminton news and updates as we cover the road to the finals in Birmingham!
