Popat given pride of place on return

BANGALORE, AUGUST 2: Aparna Popat will make a return to competitive badminton after serving an IBF ban (for use of banned substances) at t...

BANGALORE, AUGUST 2: Aparna Popat will make a return to competitive badminton after serving an IBF ban (for use of banned substances) at the 6th BPL All-India Open Badminton Tournament which will be conducted by the Prakash Padukone Academy from Thursday. Pullela Gopichand in the men’s singles and Aparna Popat in the women’s section are the top seeds for the four-day tournament.

Addressing newsmen on Wednesday, Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone said the tournament offered a total prize money of Rs 4 lakhs. The winner will take home Rs 50,000, while the runner-up will get Rs 25,000.

The tournament has attracted 120 entries in the men’s singles, 38 in women’s singles, 64 in men’s doubles, 18 in mixed doubles and 15 in women’s doubles.

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The qualifying rounds will be held on Thursday with the main draw starting on Friday. Each player making the main draw will get Rs 1,500.

The performance of the players from this tournament will form the basis for selection of the Indian team for the European circuit — Dutch Open, German Open and the Danish Open to be held in the month of October.

Desh Wandikar will be the Chief Referee for the tournament. Suresh Kumar will be his deputy.

Seedings

Men’s singles: 1. P Gopichand (PSCB); 2. Abhinn Shyam Gupta (PSCB); 3. Chetan Anand; 4. Nikhil Kanetkar (PSCB). Women’s singles: 1. Aparna Popat (PSCB); 2. BR Meenakshi (Kar). Men’s doubles: 1. Markose Bristow (PSCB)/ Vijaydeep Singh (Rly); 2. Jaseel P Ismail/ Vincent Lobo (PSCB). Women’s doubles: 1. PVV Lakshmi (PSCB)/ Madhumita Bisht (Rlys); 2. G Jwala (Andhra)/ Shruthi S Kurien (Andhra). Mixed doubles: 1. Markose Bristow/ BR Meenakshi; 2. JBS Vidyadhar/ G Jwala (Andhra).

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