Lin, seeded sixth this time around, defeated compatriot Tian Houwei in straight games in last year's final at the Barclaycard Arena, the same venue for this year's World Superseries Premier tournament.

The Beijing 2008 and London 2012 men's singles champion will need to improve on his performance at last week's German Open where he was knocked out in the third round by Denmark's Emil Holst.

The winner of last week's tournament in Mülheim, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, is unseeded for the All England Open and awaits the winner of one of tomorrow's qualifications matches.

World number one, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, is the top seed in the men's singles draw.

The three-time Olympic silver medallist will also face a qualifier in his opening match.

Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, who won the women's singles title at the Dubai World Superseries Finals in December, is the highest seed in the women's singles event.

The 22-year-old, currently ranked number one in in the world, will open her tournament against Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand.

Rio 2016 singles champion Carolina Marin is the tournament's second seed.

The Spaniard, however, was forced to withdraw before her final at the German Open through injury and it has not been confirmed if she is fit to play in Birmingham.

Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, who profited from Marin's withdrawal to win in Germany, is seeded seventh and will meet Xiaoyu Liang of Singapore in the opening round.

Defending women's singles champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan is unseeded and will take on the eighth seed Saina Nehwal of India in round one.

Malaysian duo V Shem Goh and Wee Kiong Tan are the top seeds in the men's doubles event while the Japanese duo of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi lead the way in the women's doubles competition.

Great Britain's husband and wife team, Chris and Gabrielle Adcock, are among the entrants in the mixed doubles competition.

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallists are seeded seventh and will face Singapore's Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan in round one.

Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen of China are the top seeds.

They open their campaign against the Thai duo of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

There is a total prize fund of $600,000 (£490,000/€566,000) for the tournament, which has been running since 1899 and is considered as one of the most prestigious in badminton.

Action is due to begin tomorrow with a host of qualification matches before the main draw begins on Wednesday (March 8).