More categories this year at India Club Open badminton
Oldest tournament in the UAE gets under way fromApril 17
Chief CricketWriter
India Club Open badminton tournament, UAE’s oldest badminton competition, continues to expand even in its 41st edition. This edition, commencing April 17 — with the final scheduled for May 11 — will see a rise in categories from 28 to 31.
Last year, a record 632 entries were received and the organisers expect the number to jump drastically this year. The event will also have a new title sponsor in Friends Provident International.
Announcing the new edition, Bharat Chachara, General Manager of India Club, said: “We are expanding the tournament with addition of three more categories such as Girls Doubles Under- 17, Ladies Doubles for 35 years and above and Super Senior Veterans Doubles for 60 years and above.”
By staging the 39th and 40th editions of this tournament in the most professional manner, this tournament clinched Four Star Rating in the sports event ranking systemby Dubai Sports Council. To ensure development of local talent, India Club will not be inviting any ranked players from India or other countries.
Chachara also said entry fees have not been hiked. “For the last four years, we haven’t increased the entry free and the only increase will be the addition of VAT charges. Despite mounting costs, the prize money will remain at Dh50,000.
Equipment partners Li- ning will be providing wristwatch vouchers at 50 per cent to all winners and 40 per cent to all runners- up and 25 per cent to
all the participating players redeemable at the Li- ning retail outlet,” said Chachara.
He also announced that as part of India Club’s drive towards corporate social responsibility ( CSR), exhibition matches will be conducted for special needs children and individuals and blue collar workers from labour camps.
All matches will commence from 7pm and on Fridays from 10pm. Entries need to be submitted only through online entry forms by April 14. The co- sponsors of the event are Consolidated Shipping Group, Supervision Optical, Carrera Sunglasses, Nyati Builders, FOCO, Capilano and Polaroid Sunglasses with Suno 1024 asmedia partners.