Emms and Robertson won the title in 2005

The fourth seeds are scheduled to meet 2005 world champions Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia in the semi-finals in Birmingham next month.

Before that the English duo's great rival Gao Ling could be waiting with new partner Zheng Bo in the last eight.

They face Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon and Haw Chiou Hwee in the opening round.

Indonesia's Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, the 2005 winners, are top seeds in the event from 6-11 March.

Robertson and Emms finished runners-up to double Olympic champions Zhang Jun and Gao Ling in last year's mixed doubles.

World runners-up and new national champions Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg are seeded seventh and are in the bottom half of the draw.

The English pair start off against France's Svetoslav Stoyanov and Elodie Eymard.

Clark and Robert Blair missed out on a seeding in the men's doubles and face seventh seeds Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah in the first round

European champions Emms and Kellogg begin their women's doubles campaign against Japan's Aki Akao and Tomomi Matsuda, who beat them in the Korea Open.

In the men's singles, England's Andrew Smith must play second seed Chen Jie of China.

Richard Vaughan of Wales has been paired with Dutchman Eric Pang.

Scotland's Susan Hughes is the only Briton in the women's singles main draw and will play Chinese fifth seed Zhu Lin in the opening round.

Several British players will be taking part in qualifying for the main draw, including Commonwealth champion Tracey Hallam, who makes her comeback after six months out following ankle surgery.