Anup Sridhar gear's up for Beijing Olympics

Bangalore, Jul 10 (UNI) Thomas Cup captain and former National Badminton Champion Anup Sridhar today exuded confidence of performing well in the Beijing Olympics where he would be the only Indian shuttler to figure.

Interacting with reporters during the announcement of the 'Sprite Bangalore Invitational Challenge to be held here on July 12, the Tata-Padukone Badminton Academy ward said his preparation for the crowning event was going well.

"Only time will tell how well I can do. However, I am confident of a decent show," he added.

Anup is training under newly appointed travelling coach Tom Mody, with former All England winner Prakash Padukone and Olympian Vimal Kumar watching at the Academy.

Vimal said the Indian badminton players had performed credibly in the recent times and at present five men shuttlers were among the top 100 in the world while three woman players also figured in the similar list.

"We need to invite foreign players to the tournaments played in India to provide better exposure. The BAI would have to take a final decision but it would be better if we could offer higher prize money in the badminton tournaments," Vimal, who is the Chairman of KBA Badminton Development Committee said.

The Sprite Bangalore Invitational Challenge, an exhibition tournament, will witness Anup cross swords with Check Republic's No.

one player Petr Kukal, while Scottish Open winner Arvind Bha plays Rajiv Ouseph of England.

The others to figure in the event included Prakash Padukone, Vimal Kumar, Shruti Kurean, B R Meenakshi, Thilini Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka) and Helen Davis (England).

The event is jointly organised by KBA, GoSports and SportzVillage.

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