BAI To Fund 28 Shuttlers For International Exposure

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) will fund 28 Indian shuttlers, including senior national men's and women's champions Chirag Sen and Anmol Kharb, for international tournaments this year.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) will fund 28 Indian shuttlers, including senior national men's and women's champions Chirag Sen and Anmol Kharb, for international tournaments this year. Indian players ranked between 26 and 75 in BWF world rankings and top performers from the Senior National championships, who are not part of the national camp, will benefit from this opportunity. The funds will come as part of BAI's partnership with Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). Abu Dhabi Masters champion Unnati Hooda and 2023 Badminton Asia U-17 Junior championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma are among the 28 players across singles and doubles categories who have been chosen based on their performances in multiple tournaments.

"BAI is committed to ensure promising talents get much-needed support to showcase their potential as the national campers even if they are not part of the national camp," said BAI Secretary Sanjay Mishra in a release on Monday.

"Our partnership with REC will not only help us broad base these opportunities and give shuttlers more and more opportunities to participate in multiple international challenger events as well as Super 300s and thereby better their rankings as well as gain experience of playing against foreign players.

"This initiative aligns with our goals to create strong opportunities for more players to show their abilities as well as compete and benefit from the national badminton structure." The selected players have been given an option to choose three tournaments, including two Super 300 events — the Orleans Masters and Swiss Open — from a total of eight tournaments, for which BAI will extend complete financial support to each of the shuttlers.