Olympic preview: Let the Games begin!

Team GB have medal hopes in all five badminton disciplines at Tokyo 2020, with action beginning on the opening day of the Games at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza.

As with all the action from the Japanese capital, you can watch and follow badminton across the BBC and with all events starting with a round robin format, there will be plenty of opportunities to follow the Brits in action.

The men’s and women’s singles events see players compete in groups of three with the winners progressing to the knockout stage, while all three doubles events have four groups of four teams with the top two teams from each group reaching the quarter-finals.

The first British players in action will be Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith, a couple on and off the court, in the mixed doubles as they take on French duo Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue on Saturday.

Having won European Games gold and European and Commonwealth silver together in the past, with Ellis also a bronze medalist in the men’s doubles in Rio five years ago, the British duo have plenty of podium experience.

Ellis and Smith will also face Canada’s Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu and Thai third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the group stage.

“We know that for some of the national teams, this will be their first international competition for a year and four months,” said Ellis.

“For us that’s an open door because we don’t know what they’re going to be like, and they don’t know what we’re going to be like.”

Later that day, Smith returns for women’s doubles action alongside Chloe Birch.

Smith and Birch won silver medals at both the 2019 European Games as well as the European Championships earlier this year, and start their Olympic campaign against Japanese top seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.

That’s followed by matches against Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu and then Malaysia’s Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean later in the week.

“Why can’t we be the ones to step up at an Olympic Games, do the best we can and claim a medal?” said Birch ahead of her Olympic debut.

“I’m really excited to try and cause an upset against some of the best pairs in the world.”

Ben Lane and Sean Vendy also begin their men’s doubles campaign on the opening day, as they look to back up Ellis and Chris Landridge’s bronze medal from Rio.

Lane and Vendy are making their Olympic bows but have a longstanding partnership, having won a silver medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in Poland.

The duo have a tough opener against Indonesian top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, before facing Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and Indian stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.

Despite a tough draw, Vendy is feeling confident and said: “We have beaten all the top players in the draw and pushed pretty much everyone. So we have a good record against the players going and we feel the pressure is off.”

sean vendy

After all of Team GB’s doubles hopes start their campaigns, the men’s and women’s singles will begin and there is British representation in both events.

In the men’s singles, Toby Penty will make his Olympic debut, capping a remarkable story considering an alopecia diagnosis he received during the past Olympic cycle.

He will start his campaign against German Kai Schafer, before a second round-robin match against Thai 14th seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

Penty said: “I feel what I’m getting out of myself every day is really good and really positive.

“I think I’m ready to go out and play at my top level, I want to go out and compete against the senior players and see how far I can go.”

Meanwhile, Kirsty Gilmour is hoping to use the experience she’s gained since making her Olympic debut five years ago to her advantage in the women’s singles.

“I’ve been taking stock of how much older I am as a person and an athlete since Rio, and I’m so much more organised and thoughtful on both accounts,” she said.

“You don’t realise when you’re having those learning experiences, but it comes through when you’re confronted by the same situation and you respond differently.”

The 27-year-old starts her campaign with against Mahoor Shahzad of Saudi Arabia before a tricky test against Japanese fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi.

Having won multiple medals at European and Commonwealth level since her Olympic debut in Rio, Gilmour will certainly feel she has an opportunity to make her mark on the biggest stage.

Watch live Olympic badminton action on BBC Sport and view the latest results and schedule here.

You can also download the Team GB app.