OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2011. In their continuing commitment to support sports, Tata group and Tata Capital, today, announced the commencement of the 2011 edition of Tata Open India International Challenge, at a press conference, in Mumbai.

Tata Open India International Challenge 2011 has been organised by Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) under the auspices of Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) and will get underway at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), Mumbai, from December 14 to 18, 2011. The tournament carries prize money of USD 15,000. Tata Open India International Challenge is part of the international circuit tournaments which earn ranking points for players. Being the Olympic qualifying year, this tournament will play an important role for the participating players to earn points to increase their world rankings and thus increase their chances to qualify for the London Olympic Games, scheduled to take place next summer. 

The qualifying rounds of the tournament will be held on December 14, 2011 and the main draw will commence from December 15-18, 2011, with the finals taking place on December 18, 2011. Ryan Tsai Ming Che of Chinese Taipei will be the referee of this tournament.

The 2011 edition of Tata Open India International Challenge has received an excellent response from players from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Austria, Russia and the host country India. 

Indonesia, with 24 players; Malaysia, with 18 players, and India, fielding over 50 players, are the strongest contingents.

The men’s singles category will feature players such as defending champion Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia (world number 26), Indian national champion Arvind Bhat (world number 54), Guru Sai Dutt (world number 47), Anand Pawar, Saurabh Verma, Andre Kurniwan Tedjono (world number 63) and Anup Sridhar amongst others.

The women’s singles category will witness playoffs between top international and national players such as Japan’s Eriko Hirose (world number 19), Tsz Ka Chan of Hong Kong (world number 43), India’s young badminton sensation PV Sindhu (world number 42), national champion Aditi Mutatkar and last year’s winner PC Thulasi.

The men’s doubles category has players of the calibre of world number 26 and Indian national champions, Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar. Young Malaysian and Indonesian combinations will be the dark horses.

Speaking on the occasion, Atul Agrawal, vice president, corporate affairs, Tata Services, said, “Promotion of sports has been an important part of the Tata ethos. The group is dedicated in its commitment to develop sporting talent by providing unique platforms like Tata Open. We value our partnership with PPBA and are delighted with the calibre of players that the 2011 edition of Tata Open India International Challenge has attracted both at the international and national levels. We wish the players the very best and hope that they will find this tournament an exciting and challenging experience.”

Amar Sinhji, head, HR, Tata Capital, said, “At Tata Capital we have always believed in doing what’s right and we believe that sports like badminton help develop healthy mind and spirit amongst our youth. We are proud to partner an initiative like the Tata Open India International Challenge that promotes sports, supports young players and gives them a chance to realise their potential.”

Prakash Padukone, director, PPBA, said, “Being the Olympic qualifying year and Tata Open being a part of this series, the event has attracted excellent response from international players of repute. As a result of this, one can hope to witness exciting matches from the initial rounds itself. This event will also be a good opportunity for the Indian players to garner world ranking points as they can take advantage of the home conditions.”