How it works
Five golds are up for grabs – singles and doubles for men and women plus mixed doubles – as badminton returns to the country that spawned it. Matches will be the best of three games, each played to 21 points
Who's hot
As always, Asian players lead the medal charge and look set to dominate as they did in Beijing. It would be a major surprise if Chinese player Lin Dan, who became the first man to hold the 'Super Grand Slam' of all the major badminton titles, failed to win the men's singles
Home hopes
Not great. The lack of realistic medal hopes for 2012 saw the sport's funding slashed by pounds 500,000 in UK Sport's Olympic spending review last December. It will take an effort of herculean proportions if Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork are to get in the medals, although Robertson has done it before, winning silver with Gail Emms in Athens in 2004
The road to London
8-14 Aug 2011 BWF World Badminton Championship, London (doubling as Olympic test event)
22-27 Nov 2011 China Open
6-11 Mar 2012 Yonex All England Open
May 2012 British team announced
The stage
Wembley Arena. Rhythmic Gymnastics will also be contested at the 6,000-seat venue
What they say
"Badminton's focus has got to shift to 2016"
Lesley Nicholl, UK Sport chief executive
Did you know?
Since badminton was introduced to the Olympics in 1992, all but seven of the 76 medals on offer have been won by players from Asian countries
Competition dates
28 July - 5 August 2012
Ticket prices
Preliminary rounds £20-70
Round of 16 onwards £30-150
Special prices are available in categories C and D in early rounds
Tempted to be there? Sign up now
You can apply for tickets between 15 March and 26 April. Visit www.tickets.london2012.com
The application process for tickets for the Paralympic Games will begin on 9 September 2011, and tickets for the London 2012 Festival (part of the Cultural Olympiad) in October 2011
