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The 2022 badminton season will kick off with the BWF Yonex-Sunrise India Open, scheduled to be held from January 11 in New Delhi.
The India Open badminton tournament, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, is back after a two-year gap due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament will be played at the iconic Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi from January 11 to January 16.
The India Open will be headlined by some of the top badminton stars including PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, B Sai Praneeth and Saina Nehwal.
Srikanth is top seed in men's singles at India Open
Srikanth is the top seed in the men's singles while Sai Praneeth and Lakshya Sen are the second and third seeds respectively. In the women's singles, Sindhu is seeded first with Saina seeded fourth.
Also headlining the India Open will be newly-crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew. The Singaporean recently created history by becoming the first-ever unseeded player to win the World Championships. She will lead the international line-up in the season opener.
HS Prannoy and Sameer Verma are among the other Indian participants alongside the experienced Tommy Sugiarto from Indonesia.
In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are seeded second with B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri seeded fifth. They will be joined by sixth seeds MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila.
However, they are set to face stiff competition as the line-up includes three-time world champion and world No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Another Indonesian pair, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who are currently ranked eighth in the world, will also compete at the tournament.
PV Sindhu leads women's field at India Open
In the women's singles category, young Indian shuttlers including Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha will be in action. The top international participating names in the women's singles are world No. 12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand and Singapore's Jia Min Yeo.
The Indian women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy are seeded second in the women's doubles category.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, along with Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat, will also be in action in the women's doubles.
When and where to watch, live streaming details
The India Open 2022 badminton tournament will be streamed live on the SONY network, but only from the knockout stage onwards. Until then, the matches can be followed online. The BWF website and Tournament Software will have the live scoring for the match.
Various other match details like total points scored and consecutive points won can also be checked online. The social media accounts of Indian badminton and the BWF will provide regular updates and results on social media.
Due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, the India Open will be held behind closed doors and no fans will be allowed at the stadium.
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