New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): A world class field will be on show at the Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asia Championships here April 12-18. Hosts India will have a strong presence with Saina Nehwal leading the charge.
Three times world champion and Beijing Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan of China and Athens Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia will be among eight top 20 players who have confirmed their participation.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, who won the All England title earlier this month and shares a formidable rivalry with Dan, would be missing from action.
In the women's draw, four top 10 players are in the fray. China's Lu Lan, the defending world champion, Hong Kong's Zhou Mi, bronze medal winner in 2004 Olympics, Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti, bronze medallist of Beijing Olympics, are some of the well-known women's players who will compete here.
India's Saina Nehwal, currently ranked sixth, will be the favourite. India have an equally strong contingent in the men's section featuring Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhat and Anup Sridhar, Parupalli Kashyap and Guru Sai Dutt.
Former player Dinesh Khanna, who is also the first Asian Champion in 1965, said Indians should perform well in the tournament.
"Last year at the World Badminton Championships, Saina Nehwal fell ill just before the tournament and physically she was not at her best. Now, she is on a high after reaching the semi-finals of All-England and has the advantage of playing on the home court," Khanna said.
"V. Diju and Jwala Gutta are among the top pairs in the world in mixed doubles and they would be looking forward to this event."
"In the men's section, there is a lot of hope. Chetan Anand has been consistent in the last few years. Anup Sridhar, P. Kashyap and Arvind Bhat are in good shape. Their performance was good in the Thomas Cup. A lot will depend on the draw though," Dinesh said.
All together over 300 players from 21 countries will take part in the championships that offers a total prize money of $150,000.
"This is the world's second biggest individual championships after the world championships. It will be a top quality tournament and the world's best players have confirmed their participation," said V.K. Verma, president of Badminton Association of India (BAI), here Friday.
"We have kept the ticket prices reasonable, so that more and more people can come for the tournament."
The tickets for the tournament will be available online from the March 29.
"We have bookmyshow as the ticketing partners to the event," Verma said.