In the past, former All-England champion Pullela Gopi Chand was the only star attraction Lucknowites could hope to see in a major event here. But a lot has changed since then.
Badminton connoisseurs will get a chance to watch former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, who will play
an exhibition match with a few lucky Indian players on the sidelines of the inaugural Syed Modi Memorial International Grand Prix Tournament. The tournament begins on Dec 15, with the exhibition game on Dec 19.
While the Indonesian will grace the occasion at a later stage, Olympian Saina Nehwal will be among the top stars participating in the $50,000 prize money event that will see 35 foreign shuttlers, including eight from Indonesia, three from Japan and two from Germany.
The UP Badminton Academy Hall is being decked up for the biggest-ever badminton event of the state.
The Modi tourney, revived in 1999, was last conducted in 2004 as an invitation championship, and efforts have been made since then to make it an international event. The Badminton Association of India had given it a special status and allowed organisers to invite foreign players. But it could not be conducted due to unavailability of a proper venue.
The UP Badminton Association was keen to host an international event in the state capital and had applied to the Badminton World Federation soon after the academy hall was ready.
“Conducting an international event in the name of Syed Modi was our biggest dream, and now it’s going to be realised in the next 15 days,” UPBA secretary Vijay Sinha told HT on Tuesday. “The championship will be a real test of our commitment to the game. We will be conducting the event in a grand way in future after gaining experience from it,” he added.
During the tournament, UPBA also plans to felicitate Saina, national coach Gopi Chand, Anup Sridhar, and Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold champion Jwala Gutta and V Diju for their achievements.