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Journalism of Courage
India edged out the existing Swiss Open to earn a prized spot on the badminton Super Series calendar,with the country winning the vote on Saturday 10-7. All the non-European nations voted in Indias favour.
India was included in the Super Series events for 2011-13 by the World Badminton Federation (WBF),with a proposed project purse of $5 lakh (Rs 2 crore). New Delhis Siri Fort stadium is tipped to host the premier event,with Mumbai and Hyderabad as stand-by venues.
Currently scheduled to occupy the slot vacated by the Swiss Open immediately after the All-England Championship (which will be end-February,beginning March) the Badminton Association of India is hoping to convince the world body to tag it along with the Singapore and Indonesia Super Series tournaments when the calendar is revised for 2011 onwards. Were hoping to get the September-October slot so that we can get a better field, BAI joint secretary Punniah Choudhary said.
Proposals to upgrade the Syed Modi International to GP Gold and include another International Challenge in 2011 are pending.
Saina,Chetan top-seeds
Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand will be the top seeds for the India Open GP Gold event in Chennai starting June 8. In a hugely depleted draw,Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim is seeded second,with another six Indians seeded 3-8,while Nehwal will fancy her chances of winning the title with Malaysian Mew Choo Wong being the next highest challenger. Indias mens doubles pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar are seeded 2,while the mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta are the top seeds.
