NEW DELHI, 5 Jan: In view of the upcoming Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2024 HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 event, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) held a security preparatory meeting with the Delhi Police here on Friday.
Delhi Police Special Commissioner Robin Hibu, who chaired the meeting, reviewed the security arrangements to ensure safety and security of all the participating athletes, officials and the audience during the competition.
Hibu, who is also the event’s security chairman, suggested that specific standard operating procedures, mainly for the India Open event, be adopted by the BAI in the future.
Earlier, BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra presented a brief on the entire management plan for smooth conduct of the world badminton event.
Ten Indian shuttlers will be in action at the India Open Super 750 event, the draws for which was held on Tuesday.
In the men’s doubles event, India’s medal hope Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and World No 2 Chirag Shetty will begin their campaign against Fang Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
Satwik-Chirag enjoyed a stellar season in 2023, with them winning the Asian Championships and Asian Games gold along with the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.
HS Prannoy is going to be the top-seeded Indian in men’s singles. The World No 8 Prannoy will meet Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat will go head-to-head in the first round.
World No 24 Kidambi Srikanth, the other Indian men’s singles player, will open his campaign against Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.
India, however, will have no representation in women’s singles and mixed doubles event as World No 11 PV Sindhu is yet to recover from her injury.
The field of women’s doubles will have two Indian representatives, with Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto, the winner of the Guwahati Masters, making it to the main round based on their current rankings.
While Treesa and Gayatri will take on Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan in the first round, Ashwini and Tanisha will run into Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in the opening round. Treesa and Gayatri are currently ranked 19th in the world, while Ashwini and Tanisha are placed at the 24th spot.
The event, with a total prize of $850,000 will be held from 16 to 21 January at KD Jadhav Indoor Hall of IG Stadium here, organising committee member Bamang Tago informed.
