Former All-England champion Prakash Padukone and Dr. Mukund Rajan, member-group executive council and brand custodian, Tata Sons, launched the $15,000 sixth Tata Open Indian international challenge badminton in Mumbai on Tuesday.
“It is a Badminton World Federation’s ranking-points tournament. This is a special event created for young Indian players for exposure against quality international players and also to help them win ranking points,” said Padukone.
The Tata Capital-sponsored tournament and promoted by the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy has attracted entries from nine countries other than India and it will be played from December 11 to 15.
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Last year’s winner R.M.V. Gurusaidutt (world No. 19) is the top seed in the men’s singles, while Indonesia’s Febby Angguni (world No. 35) is the top seed in the women’s singles.
Other seeded players in the men’s section are Sai Praneeth, H.S. Prannoy, Sourabh Varma, Mohammad Arif Abdul Laitf (Malaysia), Chetan Anand, Subhankar Dey and Anup Sridhar.
The women’s draw includes prominent players such as Arundhati Pantawane, Tanvi Lad, P.C. Thulasi, Saili Rane, Chia Hsin Lee (Chinese Taipei), Trupti Murgunde and Sayali Gokhali.
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