The senior national championships are highly regarded by Indian shuttlers. For, it is an event that has acted as a platform for many emerging players. The past two times the competition came to Bengaluru bore a similar significance, and the Yonex-Sunrise 77th Inter-State Inter-Zonal & 86th Senior National Badminton Championships, slated to begin here on Wednesday, promises to be another intriguing event. The championships will begin with inter-zonal team events.
Then followed by the individual tournament on December 20. Defending men’s singles champion Chirag Sen and women’s singles champion Anmol Kharb will be attempting to maintain their respective titles in an incredibly tough field. In 2006, Aparna Popat upset Saina Nehwal, a rising star, in the women’s singles at the 70th edition of the event. Popat was aiming for a ninth consecutive national victory to equal Prakash Padukone’s record.
In the men’s singles final, Anup Sridhar, an Olympian since 2008, defeated his friend Aravind Bhat. No men’s singles player has been able to retain the championship since Chetan Anand accomplished the feat in 2006-07, and Saina Nehwal won back-to-back titles during the same time. Even in the team events, there was fierce competition as the defending men’s and women’s winners, the Airport Authority of India and Maharashtra, failed to qualify for the Inter-Zonal badminton championships.
Polishing Pebbles in Indian Sports
In the individual competition, Sen will face world number 34 Priyanshu Rajawat, world number 37 Kiran George, last year’s finalist M Tharun, and the young brigade led by versatile Pranay Shettigar. Tanvi Sharma, the veteran Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Unnati Hooda, previous champion Anupama Upadhayaya, and the rising star Rakshitha Sree are all expected to give a serious challenge to Anmol in the women’s division.
Mixed doubles winners Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, as well as women’s doubles champions Shruti Mishra and Priya Devi Konjengbam, will be aiming to defend their titles. The week-long event features 456 players and a total prize money of 50 lakh INR. The men’s and women’s champions will receive Rs 3.25 lakh each, while the doubles winners will earn 3.45 lakh INR. There will be seven teams in each category.
