Smt Krishna Khaitan All-India Junio rating, the stage to shine for junior shuttlers

As the Badminton Association of India restarts the junior badminton calendar in January subsequent yr, the twenty ninth Smt Krishna Khaitan All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament will even make its return to the aggressive fold after a spot of two years. The event, which is being held by the Express Shuttle Club Trust below the aegis of Haryana Badminton Association, would be the second event within the BAI junior calendar for subsequent yr and shall be performed in U-19 class from January 11 to January 18 at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex at Panchkula.
“Due to the pandemic, the tournament could not be conducted since the last two years. As Badminton Association of India released the senior as well junior calendar of events, we are glad that this tournament is second tournament of the year offering a chance for the best U-19 players in the country to showcase their talent. We have seen players like Aditi Bhatt, Malvika Bansod, Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, Priyanshu Rajawat winning the titles in this tournament in the recent years and we hope to see new talent winning the titles this time,” stated Sanjiv Sachdeva, former Indian chief junior coach and now a member of BAI’s junior choice committee and adviser to BAI.
Aditi Bhatt from Uttrakhand in motion in opposition to Aashi Rawat. (Express picture by Jaipal Singh)
While the 2018 version of the event had seen a complete of 931 entries, the 2019 version too noticed greater than 900 gamers competing within the event. Manipur’s Maisnam Meiraba had gained the boys’ U-19 singles title whereas Delhi lady Aditi Bhatt had gained the ladies’ U-19 singles title within the 2019. This time too, the event shall be performed in boys’ singles U-19, women’ U-19 singles, boys’ doubles U-19, women’ doubles U-19 and combined doubles U-19 classes and providing a complete money prize of Rs 4 lakh. While the event shall be performed on the ten courts of the Multipurpose Hall of the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, the matches will even be performed on the 4 courts of the badminton corridor. More than 18 technical officers have been nominated by BAI for the event. “Since we expect more than 900 entries, we plan to hold the matches on the ten courts of the Multipurpose Hall apart from the four other courts. All the officials and volunteers will be double vaccinated and so far, no crowd will be allowed. Parents will be required to sit in a separate area,” stated Sachdeva.
“As per the BAI circular, the tournament is among the ranking and selection tournament for selecting the probables for national coaching camp apart from International junior tournament. It is expected that winners will be ranked for the Dutch and German Open to be held in March next year if the Indian team gets the permission to compete at that time,” added Sachdeva.
Maisnam Meiraba (Manipur) in motion throughout semifinal of twenty eighth Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Prize Money Badminton Tournament at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula. (Express picture by Jaipal Singh)
Players born on or after January 1, 2004 can compete within the event and the final date for sending the entries by means of respective state associations in December 22. “Players can send their entries through respective state associations to entry@badmintonindia.org and copy to smtkrishnakhaitan@gmail.com on or before December 22. We are thankful to Viveck Goenka, chairman, Express Shuttle Club trust, who started the tournament in 1991,” stated Sachdeva.