Aditya ChaudhuriMore details for the upcoming edition of the Yonex Sunrise India Open have been revealed. The event is set to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi between January 16 and 21, 2024.
The Yonex Sunrise India Open, organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), was upgraded to the Super 750 category from Super 500 last year, which entails the participating players earning significantly higher ranking points in their quest for Olympics qualification.
Asiad gold-medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as well as bronze-medallist HS Prannoy will aim to boost their position in the world rankings ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the likes of former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, 2022 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Lakshya Sen and the up-and-coming Priyanshu Rajawat will be gunning for the second Indian spot at the Games.
According to the Paris Olympics qualification rules, two Indian men’s singles players can participate in the Games only if both of them are ranked among the top 16 at the end of the qualification process on April 30, 2024. This also means that almost all the top 10 players in current world rankings will be in action at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall. Badminton lovers will be able to enjoy the action on all six days for free, the BAI has confirmed.
Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary, Badminton Association of India, said:
“The BAI has consistently maintained a very high standard of preparation for the India Open and that has ensured that it is now a Super 750 level event. This means that all our Olympics hopefully will have a good chance of using the home conditions to earn valuable points and even win the title. It will also be a great opportunity for fans to witness some breathtaking action as more top ranked players will be participating.“
Among the Indian stars, one of Sen and Rajawat is assured of a pre-quarterfinal spot as the two will face off against each other in the men’s singles opening round. Prannoy, the eighth seed, will be opening his campaign against Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. The winner of this game will later face the winner of the match between Sen and Rajawat.
Former champion Srikanth, currently in 24th position in the race to make Paris 2024, will meet Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in the opening round and has a potential second-round clash against defending champion Kunlavut Viditsarn of Thailand awaiting him.
In men’s doubles, former champions and second seeds Rankireddy and Shetty will kick off their challenge against World No. 25 Fang-Jen Lee and Lee Fang-chih of Taiwan in the opening round.
The women’s doubles combinations of Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto are also locked into a see-saw battle for an Olympics spot. Jolly and Gopichand have a tough opener against fourth seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan, while Ponnappa and Crasto, who made three back-to-back finals to end 2023 on a high, will face the World No. 10 Thai combination of Rawinda Prajongjai and Jongkolphan Kititharakul in the first round.
Among the other high-profile first-round clashes, defending women’s singles champion An Se-young of South Korea is set to take on three-time champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, while Spain’s Carolina Marín will face Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a clash of former world champions.
In men’s singles, former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore will meet third seed and reigning All England champion Li Shifeng of China, while top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark will open his campaign against Wang Tzu-wei of Taiwan.
