Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi, 10 December : Defending champion Lakshya Sen, two-time Olympics medalist PV Sindhu, and former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth along with the world No. 7 men’s doubles pairing of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, will lead home challenge at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton tournament, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from January 17-22.
Reigning Olympics and world champions including Chen Yufei of China, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen will spearhead galaxy of International stars at the tournament, to be played at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall ,
The tournament has attracted entries of top players from 32 countries with the likes of China’s Shi Yuqi, Japan’s Kento Momota, Denmark’s Anders Antonsen and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the men’s singles and former world champions Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, Ratchnok Intanon of Thailand and the up and coming An Se-Young of South Korea aiming to kick off the season on a winning note
The tournament, has been upgraded to BWF World Tour Super 750 category in the new tournament cycle from previous Super 500 and is a part of the Asian circuit that will kick-start the new season of international badminton.
Organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), Yonex-Sunrise India Open was conducted behind closed doors during its last edition in 2022 owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are thrilled to have such responses and big names fighting for the titles in the upcoming edition. Unfortunately, fans couldn’t watch the players live in action due to the pandemic but now it will be a treat for them to come and witness their favourite stars live. “BAI Secretary General Sanjay Mishra said.
“The upgraded Super 750 status also makes this event grandeur in every possible way and we look forward to a mega week full of exciting badminton action,” he added
.