China, Indonesia shuttlers to give Asian Satellite tourney a miss

Mumbai, Nov 9 (UNI) Top shuttlers from badminton powerhouses China and Indonesia have decided to give the 10,000 dollar Asian Satellite Badminton tournament to be held at the Goregaon Sports Club here from November 14 to 17.

World number 30 Chetan Anand, national champion Anup Sridhar and P Kashyap are the top three Indians in the men's draw, who will be given tough challenge by Danish men Peter Mikkelsen, ranked 65, and Michael Christiansen (75).

Lower-ranked shuttlers from South Korea (19 men and women) and Malaysia (8) will also figure in the tournament.

Rising woman shuttler Saina Nehwal (ranked 32nd in the world) heads the women's list and is expected to face a tough challenge from Korean world No 39 Soo Young Jang.

Besides Nehwal, India will field 34 players, including women shuttlers Trupti Murgunde (57), Aditi Mutatkar (109) and Jwala Gutta (185).

The men's and women's singles winners will take home 800 and 690 dollars respectively, with the losing finalists eligible for half of these amounts.

The winning men's and women's doubles pairs would get 720 and 610 dollars respectively. The mixed doubles pair will also receive 610 dollars.

V K Verma, president of the Badminton Association of India and secretary-general of the continental body, said the event would be a build-up for bigger events to be held in India, including next year's USD 200,000 tournament, to be held either in Mumbai or Hyderabad.

''We have been allotted the 2009 World Championship, which would be held in Delhi,'' Verma said.

The BAI chief said, ''We have produced two All England champions -- Prakash Padukone and (Pullela) Gopichand, but they have come through individually. Now we have put a system in place and it will be strictly adhered to. It has fixed months for training at one place, to improve the players' speed and stamina, and for taking part in tournaments -- both overseas and in India.'' Verma did not hold out much promise to any Indian winning a medal in the next month's Asian Games at Doha in Qatar either in individual or team events, but said the shuttlers would put a good display.

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