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Action heats up in April for the Yonex India Open 2008 championship
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Class player China’s Bao Chunlai will play in Hyderabad
Badminton will be back in Hyderabad when the USD 1,20,000 prize money Yonex India Open 2008, a world badminton Grand Prix event, is held in April. The tournament has so far attracted entries from 230 players spread across 27 countries including badminton power houses like Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Korea and England along with India.
Several of the world’s top international players are likely to take part in the tournament which is also one of the qualification tournaments for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Among the outstanding players who are expected to take part are the classy Chinese shuttlers such as Bao Chunlai, Chen Jin, Chen Yu, and women players like Xie Xingfang and her compatriots Zhu Lin and Zhang Ning all of whom are among the world’s top ranked players at present.
As usual the Chinese are expected to be the major force in the tournament. With the country all geared up to host the Olympic Games later this year, the players will be under intense scrutiny and are therefore likely to be eager to show off their skills. The tournament will be held by NEB Sports Entertainment (P) Ltd., in association with the Badminton Association of India at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, which has been the venue of many thrilling sports meets since its inception just before the 2002 National Games.
Needless to say, the top class facilities at the venue are likely to be conducive for the world’s top players to showcase their talent and some thrilling matches could be witnessed once the event gets underway. The general opinion among some of the experts and officials is that since the Indian players
Anup Sidhar and Saina Nehwal will be playing in front of a home audience, this tournament may help them bag a qualifying berth for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
According to former All England badminton champion, Pullela Gopichand, another plus point is that Indian players, coaches and officials will get to witness the skills of some of the best players in the world and this will help them to analyse India’s strengths in the run-up to the 2009 World Badminton Championship and 2010 Commonwealth Games both of which are to be held in New Delhi. As a run-up to the main event, the organisers will also conduct various promotional activities involving sports personalities, film stars and school children. An official website is also on the anvil, to be launched during the main event.
ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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