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The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has finally decided to resume the domestic season next month with two senior tournaments. The two back-to-back tournaments will be held in Chennai and Hyderabad.
The first BAI Series Senior Badminton tournament will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai from December 16 to 22. Qualifiers will be held on the first three days, while the main draw will commence on December 19. Tamil Nadu State Badminton Association will conduct the tournament under the auspices of BAI.
After a day’s gap, the second BAI Series Senior Badminton tournament will take place from December 24 to 30 in Hyderabad and will be organized by Telangana State Badminton Association.
The week-long tourney will be played simultaneously at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy and SAI Gopichand Badminton Academy, Gachibowli.
Qualifying rounds will be played from December 24 to 26, while the main draw will begin on December 27.
In both tournaments the prize money will be Rs 10 lakhs. For the Chennai tournament, the last date to send entries is November 24.
Strict COVID-19 guidelines will be followed for both tournaments: BAI
According to the BAI secretary (events) Omar Rashid, both the tournaments will be conducted as per the Government of India and state government’s Covid-19 regulations. SOP guidelines will be strictly followed, said Omar Rashid on Tuesday.
“Players above 18 years of age should submit their vaccination certificate at the venue and below 18 years of age players must carry a negative RT-PCR certificate within 96 hours prior to the departure station,” said Omar Rashid.
He also said that the tournament may be canceled or postponed depending on Covid-19 situation at Chennai and Hyderabad. It may be mentioned that on several occasions in the last two years, BAI has canceled the tournaments after announcing them.
On August 9, BAI had postponed the All India Senior Ranking Badminton tournaments slated to be held in Bengaluru in August-September. BAI, the national governing body of sports, announced back-to-back All India Senior Ranking tournaments (BAI Series tourneys) on August 2.
The BAI wanted to launch its much-awaited domestic season with the first BAI Series Senior Badminton tournament in Bengaluru from August 27 to September 3, 2021.
Both tournaments were scheduled to be organized by the Karnataka State Badminton Association at KBA Stadium, Jasma Bhavan Road, Vasanth Nagar.
However, the BAI received a major jolt in their bid to restart the domestic circuit when the Karnataka Government refused permission to hold the tournaments.
Since it will be the first national-level tournament since 2019, around 2000 entries are expected for the Chennai and Hyderabad tournaments.
BAI to hold 5 events in domestic circuit
Men’s singles
Main draw: 64 players (32 qualifiers, 30 direct entries on the basis of their rankings, 2 host entries)
Women’s singles
Main draw: 64 players (32 qualifiers, 30 direct entries on the basis of their rankings, 2 host entries)
Men’s doubles
Main draw: 32 players (16 qualifiers, 15 direct entries on the basis of their rankings, 1 host entry)
Women’s doubles
Main draw: 32 players (16 qualifiers, 15 direct entries on the basis of their rankings, 1 host entry)
Mixed doubles
Main draw: 32 players (16 qualifiers, 15 direct entries on the basis of their rankings, 1 host entry).
