DUBAI In a bid to encourage young shuttlers, the 38th edition of the India Club UAE Open Badminton Tournament will give winners and runners-up from the UAE Open category to play in the Super Series along with top international players.
The tournament, which will commence on May 18, will have 26 categories with over 600 participants expected to be part of the event.
“This is a big opportunity for youngsters to be playing alongside top players in the Super Series category,” said tournament committee member Dinesh Nair.
“We all know the popularity of the sport has been growing tremendously after the high profile tournaments including the Dubai World Super Series Finals are being held here. There are lots of academies where youngsters train hard. We thought this would be the right platform for them to showcase their talent,” he added.
Caught up
A total of eight ranked players from India and Malaysia will participate in the Super Series (Men Singles and Men Doubles) from June 7 to 12. “We are delighted to be inviting players from India and Malaysia. The game has been gaining popularity and it has further caught up after India’s shuttler Saina Nehwal became the world number one. So by bringing top players we have ensured our boys get to play at the top level,” said Sunil Singh, head of the tournament committee.
Last year, 600 entries were registered in 26 categories and a record 574 matches were played in various categories. Players from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Philipines, Qatar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, UK and other countries participated.
“We are expecting to cross the numbers this year. As part of the CSR activity we will invite special needs children and blue colour workers to take part in the tournament.”
STAR PLAYERS
Malaysia: Muhammad Hafiz Bin Hashim, Zairul Hafiz Bin Zainudin, Mohamad Razlan Shah Bin Mohd Ridzuan Shah, Nur Izzuddin Bin Rumsani.
India: Anup Sridhar, Harshit Agarwal, Mohit Kamat and Siddharth Thakur
