Japan's Kento Momota is the men's singles top seed at the Badminton Asia Championships ©Getty Images

The Badminton Asia Championships are set to make their long-awaited return tomorrow in the Philippines' capital Manila.

Shah Alam in Malaysia held the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, where the host nation won the men's title and Indonesia the women's.

Wuhan in China held the last edition of the individual Championships in 2019, but it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only players who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have been permitted to enter the Championships at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.

Two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan is the men's singles top seed, and is due to face Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, who helped Indonesia to win the Thomas Cup last year, in the first round.

Second seed and Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting also featured in Indonesia's success in Aarhus last year, and has been pitted against Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin in the first round.

The women's singles top seed is the reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who is set to face Aakarshi Kashyap of India in her opener.

South Korea's An Se-young is seeded second, and is set to face the qualifier from Group B in her first match.

Japan's world champion Akane Yamaguchi is the women's singles top seed in Manila ©Getty Images
Japan's world champion Akane Yamaguchi is the women's singles top seed in Manila ©Getty Images

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist PV Sindhu of India is seeded fourth, and has been drawn against Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu-po.

China's Olympic silver medallists Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan headline the women's doubles field, and are due to play South Korean duo Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong to start their tournament.

Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, who have won three World Championships golds together, are men's doubles top seeds, with Japan's Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera their first opponents.

In the mixed doubles, China's Olympic champions Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping are seeded third, and are due to play Thailand's Ruttanapak Oupthong and Chasinee Korepap in the first round.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong - also of China - are top seeds, and start against another Thai pairing in Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat.

Competition is due to begin with qualifiers and preliminaries tomorrow.

Preliminaries are due to conclude on Thursday (April 28), followed by the quarter-finals on Friday (April 29), the semi-finals on Saturday (April 30) and the finals on Sunday (May 1).