For the first time ever, a reigning women’s singles world champion will be seen in badminton action in India.

Zhu Lin of China, who won the World Badminton Championships here on Sunday, heads the field for the Yonex Sunrise India Open, to be held from 5-9 September at Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

China has entered a strong squad for the event. It includes the women’s doubles world champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen along with Bao Chunlai and Chen Yu, both semi-finalists at the world championships.

The Chinese have sent an 18-member team, which is second only to India’s 34-member squad. The Grand Prix Gold event, the draw for which was released by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) yesterday, offers prize money of $150,000.

Zhu Lin is likely to face compatriot and world No. 7 Lu Lan, Asian Games silver medallist Yip Pui Yin and world No. 15 Juliane Schenk of Germany in the event.

National champion Saina Nehwal spearheads the Indian challenge. So impressive is the field that former All England champion Prakash Padukone conceded it was the most competitive he’d seen in the country.

“In terms of numbers, the draw is not big but it has attracted some of the most high-profile players. It will be competitive from the first round itself. I can’t think of any other tournament in the country that has attracted a similar field.

Also, the Chinese representation here in an Open event is the best since the 1976 Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) championships,” he said.

The men’s singles event has also attracted several stars including Olympic and Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Malaysian world No. 3 Lee Chong Wei ~ winner of the Indonesian Open Super Series this year.

Copyright © 2007 The Statesman.