World number three Saina Nehwal will be among the top Indian players who will be seen in action in the all India Senior Ranking badminton tournament that will be held from January 23 to 27 at Pullela Gopichand Academy here.
K Punnaiah Choudhury, Secretary (events), Badminton Association of India (BAI), said Saina has confirmed her entry. “We have received entries from Saina and other players. They are all going to play in this tournament which is being organized by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association,” said Choudhury, who is also the secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association (APBA).
Saina courted controversy after she lost ‘deliberately’ on match-point (21-17, 20-18) against Russian Ksenia Polikarpova, citing knee injury, in the KL Garg-Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament at the Babu Banarsi Das Stadium last month. But since it is a ‘home’ venue as she practices daily it was on the cards that she would play in this tournament.
Saina will begin her international campaign for 2013 by taking part in the Korean Open Premier Super Series tournament which starts from January 8 to 13 at Seoul. It will be followed by the Malaysian Open Super Series tournament, which will be held from January 15 to 20 at Kuala Lumpur.