Senior National Badminton Championship: More than 500 players to take part in event

The tournament is being conducted in Chandigarh for the first time and last year’s winners Sai Parneeth and Ruthika Shivani will be among the players who will participate in the championship.

Organising president TPS Puri (second from left) addresses the media regarding 71st Inter State and 80th Senior National Badminton Championships at Panjab University, Chandigarh, on Monday. Kamleshwar Singh

MORE THAN 500 players from 37 units affiliated with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) will take part in the 71st Inter-State and 80th Senior National Badminton Championship to be hosted by Chandigarh Badminton Association at Panjab University Badminton Courts from Tuesday. The tournament is being conducted in Chandigarh for the first time and last year’s winners Sai Parneeth and Ruthika Shivani will be among the players who will participate in the championship.

“This is the first time that Chandigarh is hosting the Senior Nationals Championship which will see participation of more than 500 players from all over India. Top players like Sai Parneeth, who recently defeated former world champion Lee Chong Wei, will be the main attraction while last year’s champion Ruthika Shivani will lead the challenge in the women’s category. Players like Sikki Reddy and Sayali Ghokhle too will play in the tournament,” said T P S Puri, president, organising committee of the tournament.

The tournament will also see the team championship being conducted in line with international events like Sudirman Cup and it will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches. Teams from Chandigarh, Haryana, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Maharashtra, Airport Authority of India, Telangana, Assam and Uttar Pradesh will take part in the team championships which will conclude on April 6.

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“This will be for the first time that the team championships will be played in a format similar to tournaments like Sudirman Cup. Chandigarh team will also play in this event and the finals of this event will be played on April 6. Besides, we will have online scoring and electronic scoring during the matches for the referees,” said P Chaudhary, secretary (events), BAI.

Players like Rupinder and Kanwardeep will lead Chandigarh’s challenge in the men’s category while Kailash and Ishita will lead the challenge in the women’s category for Chandigarh.

“Chandigarh players have done well in the past too and these players will look forward to utilising the home conditions. Even though the top four-five shuttlers of the country are not playing due to preparations for Rio Olympics, the field is good for the championship. And we are sure that new talent will emerge from this championship,” said Surinder Mahajan, renowned coach and organising secretary of the tournament.

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Senior National Badminton Championship