The 2022 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour season will get underway with the India Open from January 11 and will go on till January 16, at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, in New Delhi. The 11th edition of the BWF Tour Super 500 Series tournament will mark a return after a two-year break due to COVID-19 pandemic. The premier event will see participants from 19 countries across five categories vying for a whopping USD 400,000 prize money. However, due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, the premier tournament will be held behind closed doors and no fans will be allowed inside the venue.
The India Open will be headlined by some of badminton elite including newly crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew, along with runner-up and silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth and bronze medallist Lakshya Sen also vying for their first India Open title. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhuwill lead the charge in the women’s singles segment, which also has two-time champion Saina Nehwal, Thailand’s Busanan Ongubamrungphan and and Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo, among others.
In the Indian men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are seeded second with B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri seeded fifth. They will be joined by sixth seeds Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun. However, they too face stiff competition from the three-time world champion Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. In the women’s segment – Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy are second-seeded in the double’s category. They will also have Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, along with Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat, who will also be in action in the same category.
Indian shuttlers B. Sai Praneeth and Dhruv Rawat have pulled out of the tournament after testing COVID-19 positive. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was informed that the England badminton contingent will not be part of the India Open after their doubles player Sean Vendy and coach Nathan Robertson tested positive for COVID-19.
When and where to watch, India Open 2022?
Unfortunately, there will be no live telecast and live streaming of the week-long India Open 2022 tournament in the country. However, fans can follow the tournament online on BWF’s official website to check various other details like match cards, total and consecutive points etc. Badminton enthusiasts can also check the social media accounts of Indian badminton and BWFto get regular updates and results.
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