Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
India Open, one of the prestigious tournaments in the badminton calendar and also the final qualifying tournament for Tokyo Olympics will be held in a ” dazzling atmosphere’ at the revamped Indira Gandhi Stadium here in May..
This and other decisions were taken during Badminton Association of India (BAI) Executive Committee meeting today
The much-awaited domestic badminton circuit will begin from April as BAI has decided to resume the senior ranking tournaments with the revamped structure.
The revamped domestic structure promises to provide opportunities to budding shuttlers to showcase their talents. The senior ranking tournament will now be classified into three levels wherein Level 3 will have 6 series tournaments in the year while Level 2 will have 4 Super Series tournaments.
The Premier Super Series Tournament is bracketed as the Level 1 tournament which will have two tournaments per year. The tournaments will also see a lucrative prize money with Level 1 being valued at 25 lakhs. Level 2 and Level 3 will have 15 lakhs and 10 lakhs prize money for the respective tier tournaments while 50 Lakhs for the Senior Nationals Championships.
Both the tournaments, which will initiate the restart of badminton in the country, will be part of the Level 3 tournaments and will be played with a draw of 64 in singles and 32 in doubles with hosts receiving 2 quotas in singles and 1 in doubles. There will be no restrictions in the number of qualification participation though 32 entries from singles and 16 from doubles will progress through the qualifiers.
Alongside resumption of tournaments, BAI has also decided to recommence all the national camps for senior and juniors shuttlers from April. The junior shuttlers, who are potential prospects for the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Game and are part of the Junior Tops Scheme, will be included as part of this camp.
These junior shuttlers will be training in the five BAI-SAI junior academies in Guwahati, Panchkula, Gopichand-SAI badminton Academy, PPBA-Bangalore and Babu Banarsi Das Badminton Academy in Lucknow. The juniors’ training will be initiated in a phased manner.
All the necessary coach’s selection will also be completed ahead of the camps by the month of March. An advertisement for appointment of coaches will be uploaded on the BAI’s official website shortly.
“It’s has been a tough time for our players as well as all the stakeholders associated with the game who had to sit out for such a long time. However, the arrival of the vaccine has brought new hope and confidence, and after deliberating and evaluating the tournament execution plans and the safety protocols, I can say, we are confident of the resumption,” said BAI President Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“While our focus was on the resumption of the sport, we ensured players’ safety remained as our top-most priority. Though the situation is getting better gradually in the country, we will not compromise on players’ health while conducting these tournaments.
The new tournament structure and revised prize money will not only encourage and bring positivity in the ecosystem, but we also hope this structure will ensure more exposure to potential and new talents in the country,” BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania added