By Milly McEvoy in Birmingham
Alex Lanier faces a tough test to keep his winning streak going as he faces fifth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn on Day 3 of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships.
Vitidsarn, the reigning men’s singles world champion and Olympic silver medallist, grew into his opening match but comes up against the Frenchman in fine form.
Lanier triumphed on home soil just last week as he won the Orléans Masters and beat the Thai shuttler in their most recent encounter at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open.
The world no.16 triumphed in three games on that occassion and more blockbuster action is expected when they meet on the Minoru Yoneyama Court.
The match just before sees Greg and Jenny Mairs take on Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat after the English pair caused an upset in the first round.
The duo, who are retiring at the end of the tournament, knocked out the eighth seeds Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito of Japan to score their first win at the YONEX All England Open.
Also in mixed doubles action are the French third seeds Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France.
They get proceedings underway on Court 3 at 10:10 GMT when they take on Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui of Chinese Taipei.
Gicquel and Delrue recently reached the final of the India Open and also made it to the last eight of the Malaysia Open in a strong start to 2025.
In the men’s singles, Anders Antonsen is flying the Danish flag alone after Viktor Axelsen and Rasmus Gemke were knocked out on Day 2.
The second seed faces Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei with their match seventh on the Minoru Yoneyama Court.
Antonsen beat Wang in the first round of the Malaysia Open en route to the final and will hope for a repeat on Thursday.
In the women’s singles, An Se Young headlines the day as she takes on Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour.
Gilmour enjoyed only the second win of her career at the All England to reach the second round and her reward is a meeting with the world no.1.
Champions meet in the women’s doubles when the holders Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea take on Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian.
Jia triumphed in the women’s doubles in 2019 alongside Chen Qingchen and is out to earn a second title while Lee has the chance to win a third.
Also going in search of a second title are Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong who play Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela of India in the final match on 12BET Court.
The day also rounds out with an all-Indonesia clash as former winner Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and his partner Daniel Marthin take on Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana.
The two have met only once before on the international stage with Carnando and Maulana triumphing in straight games at in the Korea Open semi-finals in 2024.
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