Top players likely to play in Sr National Badminton tourney

New Delhi: The Badminton Association of Haryana (BAH) on Tuesday launched the 75th Senior National Badminton Championship to be held for the first time at Rohtak, Haryana from January 3. Briefing the media on the occasion, the President of BAH, Devinder Singh said that the event will see top performers across the country battling it out for the title but refused to comment on the participation of players like Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap. "I have requested all of them to participate in the event but right now I won`t be able to comment on their presence as some of them have to cater to the international commitments. Besides entries are still pouring in," Singh said. He, though sounded hopeful that the players will turn up in great numbers and said, "I am confident that the previous year`s winners and runner-ups will participate in the event." Singh assured players of the best lodging and playing facilities. "I promise players that they will be provided with best of the facilities," he said, adding that elaborate arrangements have been made for the tournament. Singh also said that five top players would also be felicitated on the concluding day of the tournament. "Top players like Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa and former players in Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand would be felicitated on the last day."Even the sponsors of the event DLF announced that the winner in the men`s and women`s individual category will be presented with a sedan each. Addressing the media, director DLF golf resorts Aakash Ohri said, "The men`s and women`s champion will be presented with Maruti SX4 each." Meanwhile, star shuttler Jwala Gutta confirmed her participation in the tournament. "The domestic tournaments are important as they give lot of exposure to the upcoming players," said Gutta. She, however added that players need to focus more on the international events as those tournaments have an impact on rankings. Gutta also emphasised on the need to schedule the tournaments in a manner so that players get the opportunity to participate in maximum number of events. "Too many events around a particular month deprive players from participating in all of them," Gutta said. PTI