PANAJI: The youngest winner of the BWF’s Super 100 Odisha Open – Unnati Hooda, winner of Infosys Foundation International challenge and Polish International – Anupama Upadhyaya, besides Tara Shah and Bharat Raghav, winners of the previous All-India Junior Ranking Tournament in Panchkula; will headline the Yonex Sunrise Junior All-India Badminton Ranking Tournament in progress at Navelim, South Goa.
Pranav Rao Gandham, Sanskar Saraswat, Darshan Pujari, Ayan Rashid, Sania Sikandar, Devika Sihag, Tushar Suveer and Nicholas Nathan are some of the other prominent players who will be seen in action during the 7-day tournament which commenced at Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, on Friday.
The qualifying matches will continue till July 18 morning session while the main draw begins at 2pm on July 18. The prestigious tournament which is a selection event to identify players for TOPS Development Group, National Campers and for participation in International Tournaments, will be inaugurated on July 18 (2pm) by Hon Sports Minister Govind Gaude in the presence of Digambar Kamat, Chief Patron, Goa Badminton Association, SAG Executive Director Ajay Gaude, BAI Observer Mayur Parikh, among others.
“We have 1685 entries, which is highest number so far in Junior Ranking tournaments. There are also large number of entries from Goa, around 250 in all, giving indication of how badminton is growing by leaps and bounds. The Government of Goa has built excellent sports infrastructure at various locations which allows us to host such major National Badminton Tournaments. These are India’s young talents who will be the rising stars and big names to watch out for in future”, noted Manoj Patil, President, North Goa District Badminton Association.
The week-long tournament is being organised by the Goa Badminton Association in collaboration with the North Goa District Badminton Association and the Sports Authority of Goa, and supported by the Government of Goa. It is the first of the back-to-back tournaments being held in Goa, the second being a Sub-Junior All-India Ranking from July 23 to 30.
