A new addition to the HSBC BWF World Tour, the Orléans Masters was founded in 1994 as a regional tournament and became part of the international circuit in 2012.

After five years as a BWF Tour Super 100 event, it was promoted to a Super 300 status for the 2023 season.

Here’s some interesting information about the competition.

• Among the five best performing nations, only Japan is from Asia.
• They possess five titles, same as England. Denmark lead the table with six.
• The Danes have not won the singles since Emil Holst (men’s) in 2016 and Natalia Koch Rohde (women’s) a year earlier. They have seeds Anders Antonsen (4), Rasmus Gemke (5) and Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (8) to count on this year.
• Mathias Christiansen (2015-2016, 2021), along with Bulgarian sisters Gabriela–Stefani Stoeva (2015, 2018, 2022) and Scottish doubles shuttler Imogen Bankier (2013-2014), are the only players to be champions thrice.
• Christiansen could make history as the competition’s outright most successful athlete with a fourth title with Alexandra BØje, his winning mixed doubles partner two years ago.
• Scotswoman Bankier was also the last to win in two categories at the same edition – women’s doubles with Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva and mixed doubles with compatriot Robert Blair in 2014.
• Seeded in both disciplines, two-time women’s doubles titlist Lauren Smith has the best chance of replicating the exploits of her fellow Brit.
• Winner with Heather Olver in 2016 and Chloe Birch in 2019, Smith, alongside Marcus Ellis, also has the opportunity to end England’s wait for a victorious mixed pair.
• Smith and Sara Thygesen can both become the first shuttlers since Mark Lamsfuss in 2018 to win a second event. The German first aced mixed doubles in 2017 with Isabel Lohau before taking the men’s doubles a year later with Marvin Seidel.
• Thygesen won mixed doubles in 2018 with Niclas Nohr but is seeded second alongside regular sidekick Maiken Fruergaard in women’s doubles – a category Denmark are yet to conquer.
• Two-time defending men’s singles champion Toma Junior Popov, meanwhile, can become the first player to win three in a row. He also competes in men’s doubles with younger brother Christo.
• Other previous winners back are Koki Watanabe, Kirsty Gilmour, Putri Kusuma Wardani and Ben Lane/Sean Vendy.
• Two of the three starting top seeds, Kenta Nishimoto and Carolina Marin, are making their tournament debuts.
• Women’s doubles first seed Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma featured in 2018 with Ribka Sugiarto but is partnered by Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi this time.
• Interestingly, men’s doubles powerhouse Indonesia are yet to produce a winning pair. This edition, they have three of the top five seeds – Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin (2), Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana (3) and Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan (5).
• Having won once in women’s singles, they can also rely on Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati – the highest remaining mixed doubles seeds.
• Kusharjanto/Kusumawati went close last year, finishing runners-up to Hee Yong Kai Terry/Tan Wei Han Jessica.
• If Wardani achieves glory, she will be the second women’s singles player after Beatriz Corrales in 2014 to triumph twice in a row.
• Only country with seeded entry (Beiwen Zhang) but no previous success is USA. Beiwen’s countrywoman Iris Wang lost the 2022 final to Wardani.
• Men’s doubles seventh seeds M.r. Arjun/Dhruv Kapila carry India’s hopes of adding to their sole victory in 2012 courtesy of men’s singles Anand Pawar.
• Last year’s edition produced champions from five countries – France, Indonesia, Netherlands, Bulgaria and Singapore.
• In fact, the two most recent instalments saw eight different nationalities crowned winners.

Standout Stat: No country has captured a category more than twice, except Denmark, who have four mixed doubles titles.