Yonex Sunrise India Open set to get underway on March 28

AFTER THE STUPENDOUS SUCCESS of the Premier Badminton League, the country is set for the next big sporting carnival: the Yonex Sunrise India Open. Starting on March 28th, the mega tournament will see all the top stars of the world in action, including the men’s No. 1 and No. 2 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark and the women’s No. 1 Carolina Marin of Spain.

India’s challenge will be spearheaded by Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and tenth ranked Saina Nehwal. In the men’s category 2014, China Open Super Series champion Srikanth Kidambi will be the main hope while four other talented youngsters expected to pull off a surprise or two. BAI president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta stated, 

“We are really excited about the India Open, coming on the heels of the PBL. Badminton fans will once again see the world’s best players competing for top honours in this prestigious event on the world tour."

Indian badminton fans will look at the draw released by the Badminton World Federation on Wednesday with a sense of irony: No. 3 seed Sindhu will clash with No. 6 seed Nehwal in the quarterfinals, if both of them advance from the bottom half. The winner will take on No. 2 seed and World No. 3 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea.

Marin, a crowd favourite in India, has a comparatively easy draw. She will be up against No. 8 seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the quarters and fourth seeded Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semis. 

India has three other players in the main draw: 21-year-old Rituparna Das who had a remarkable 2016, Tanvi Lad and Sri Krishna Priya who unfortunately opens against the No. 2 seed Sung Ji Hyun.

A number of Indian young girls will be in fray, vying for the four qualifying berth. With only one Indonesia player having registered for these rounds, at least three Indians are assured of advancing.

The men’s draw has been kind to Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei, with an easy opening round against Denmark’s veteran player Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. He will run into seventh seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarters in what could be his first big test.

Giant-killer Sai Praneeth might consider himself lucky, having drawn a qualifier in his first round. But he faces Chou Tien Chen in his very next round.

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