700 shuttlers to vie for honour in Nat jr ranking tourney

Bangalore, Jun 7 (UNI) More than 700 shuttlers from 24 states will vie for top honour in the Seventh All India Junior Ranking Badminton tournament beginning at the K Raheja Stadium tomorrow.

Informing this at a press conference here today, former All England champion Prakash Padukone said, the three star tournament carrying Rs two lakh cash prize was one of the biggest tournaments for juniors and sub-juniors in the country.

The qualifying draw would be held on June 8 and 9 and the main draw on June 9.

The tournament, sponsored by Union Bank of India, would be held under the aegis of Karnataka Badminton Association and Badminton Association of India.

He said the performance of the players in this tournament would be considered for selection to the Indian team for the Junior World championship being to be held later this year.

The tournament would be held in 12 categories, including boys and girls singles and doubles under-19, under-16, under-13.

While B Sumeeth Reddy of Andhra Pradesh was given top billing in boys under-19 singles, Anuradha Shrikhande of Maharashtra was top seeded in girls singles section. Sameer Verma of Madhya Pradesh and Saili Rane of Maharashtra, were given top billing in boys and girls section respecitvely in under-16 category. In under-13 category Aditya Joshi of Madhya Pradesh and G Ruthvika Shivani of Andhra Pradesh, were top seeded in boys and girls section respectively.

UNI MSP ROY RKM NS1810