India Open 2007 website

YONEX SUNRISE INDIA OPEN GRAND PRIX GOLD

STARTING DATE : 04/09/2007
FINISHING DATE : 09/09/2007
CITY : Hyderabad
NATION : INDIA
EVENT LEVEL : 3A (BWF Grand Prix Gold)


http://www.badmintonindia.org/tournament/BAI2007-08/indiaopen_tour2007.htm

 

World badminton champion Zhu Lin enters Indian Open

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 23 (IANS) For the first time ever, a reigning women's singles world champion will be seen in badminton action in India.

Zhu Lin of China, who won the World Badminton Championships here Sunday, heads the field for the Yonex Sunrise India Open, to be held Sep 5-9 at Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

China has entered a strong squad for the event. It includes the women's doubles world champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen along with Bao Chunlai and Chen Yu, both semi-finalists at the world championships.

The Chinese have sent an 18-member team, which is second only to India's 34-member squad. The Grand Prix Gold event, the draw for which was released by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) Wednesday, offers prize money of $150,000.

Zhu Lin is likely to face compatriot and world number seven Lu Lan, Asian Games silver medallist Yip Pui Yin and world number 15 Juliane Schenk of Germany in the event.

National champion Saina Nehwal spearheads the Indian challenge.

So impressive is the field that former All England champion Prakash Padukone conceded it was the most competitive he'd seen in the country.

"In terms of numbers, the draw is not big but it has attracted some of the most high-profile players. It will be competitive from the first round itself. I can't think of any other tournament in the country that has attracted a similar field. Also, the Chinese representation here in an Open event is the best since the 1976 Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) championships," he said.

The men's singles event has also attracted several stars including Olympic and Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Malaysian world number three Lee Chong Wei - winner of the Indonesian Open Super Series this year.

Others who have confirmed their participation are world no 5 Bao Chunlai and no 7 Chen Yu of China, former All England champion Hafiz bin Hashim and Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia, Park Sung Hwan and Lee Hyun Il of South Korea. All these players figure in the top 20 of the world rankings.

India's Anup Sridhar, who enjoyed a fine run at the world championships, has a potentially tough first round opponent in Malaysian Kuan Beng Hong, who reached the final of the ABC championships in Hyderabad two years ago.

If Anup makes it to the third round, he is drawn to meet Chen Yu.

The top seeds in the men's doubles will be the Indonesian pair of Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, while two teams each from Malaysia and South Korea will provide them stiff competition.

The Indian challenge will come from Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar and V. Diju and Akshay Diwalkar.

World champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen will be the top seeds in the women's doubles event, with compatriots Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia and Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Jo Novita expected to challenge them for the title.

The mixed doubles competition, however, is short of big names.

Indonesian badminton legend Rudy Hartono, winner of eight All England titles, reaches Hyderabad Saturday to help the event's organisers, according to the tournament's organising secretary Punnaiah Choudary who confirmed that all the arrangements are on schedule.