Lucknow: Defending champion Saina Nehwal and current world champion Carolina Marin of Spain have confirmed their participation in the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship scheduled to start on January 20.
India’s Nehwal is the top seed, Marin is the second seed and Sindhu is the third seen in the women’s draw.
The men’s draw also includes some top names, with Indian shuttler and world number four K Srikanth and rising talent Viktor Axelsen of Denmark set to take part.
Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association (UPBA) president Alok Ranjan believes the tournament will be well attended due to the highly ranked players attending.
Ranjan said: “It would quite exciting for fans to watch world’s top two players in action in the city of Nawabs.
“The presence of the two big stars in the women’s singles category would be good enough to excite fans.”
Organising and Tournament Secretary Vijai Sinha added: “Sindhu’s presence would certainly make the field interesting for everyone.”
SEEDINGS
Men’s singles: 1-Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den), 3-Parupalli Kashyap (Ind), 4-H.S. Prannoy (Ind), 5-Wei Feng Chong (Mas), 6-B. Sai Praneeth (Ind), 7-Sourabh Verma (Ind), 8-R.M.V. Gurusaidutt (Ind).
Women’s singles: 1-Saina Nehwal (Ind), 2-Carolina Marin (Esp), 3-P.V. Sindhu (Ind), 4-Nichaon Jindapon (Tha), 5-Beatriz Corrales (Esp), 6-Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha), 7-Jing Yi Tee (Mas), 8-P.C. Thulasi (Ind).
