New Delhi, Jan 10 : Badminton season will begin with the India Open Super 500 tournament scheduled to take place here at the K D Jadhav Indoor Hall from January 11 to 16.
As the tournament returns after a gap of two years due to coronavirus pandemic, shuttlers from around the world will battle it out to claim the whooping prize money of USD 400,000.
In the men’s singles, World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth is the top seed. Young sensation Lakshya Sen, who clinched bronze at the world event, is seeded third. Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, who recently scripted history by becoming the first-ever unseeded player to win the World title, will also headline the Super 500 event.
With less than two days to the event, B Sai Praneeth, who was seeed second, pulled out of the tournament after he tested postive for Covid-19.
The other shuttlers to look out for are Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand, who is seeded fourth, India’s Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy who are seeded sixth and eighth repectively and seventh seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.
In the women’s singles, ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be in action. The two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu is top seeded, while Saina Nehwal is seeded fourth. Young Indian shuttlers with the likes of Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha will also be in action.
Other top women shuttlers who are participating are Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo, and Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia.
In the women’s doubles, experienced India duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy are seeded second. The world no.9 Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai are seeded first.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, along with Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat are the other Indian women pair who will be in action.
India’s star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are seeded second and B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri seeded fifth. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will also join the Indian team as the sixth seeded men’s pair.
The men’s doubles line-up also includes world no 2 and the three-time world champion Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
Due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation, the India Open super 500 tournament is being held behind the closed doors.
