Defending champion Arvind, Ajay in fray at German Open

NEW DELHI: A year ago Arvind Bhat had turned back the clock to win the German Open and the senior Indian shuttler will hope to produce another age-defying exploit when he look to defend his title in the Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament at Mulheim an der Ruhr, starting on Tuesday. 

The 35-year-old shuttler from Bangalore was supposed to take on Rajiv Ouseph but since the England player withdrew from the tournament, the Indian will come to know about his first round opponent only at the manager's meet tonight. 

Arvind will face tough competition from the likes of second seeded Korean Son Wan Ho, who is drawn in his half. 

"I love to be in Germany again as I have played so much of my badminton here. My game is okay, not too bad. But I have no real expectations. Preparations have been okay. So let's see," said the two-time national champion. 

Arvind, who has won seven International titles including the Scottish Open 2004 and the Czech International 2007, played at the Syed Modi International Championship in Lucknow last. He lost to Wei Feng Chong in the third round. 

Among other Indians, Ajay Jayaram, who won the Dutch Open last year, will face a tough opposition in Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in his tournament opener. 

In women's doubles, 2010 Commonwealth Games champions, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on Indonesian pair of Suci Rizky Andini and Maretha Dea Giovani in the first round. 

Spain withdraw from European event over image rights

MADRID: Spain have withdrawn from the 2015 European mixed team badminton championships starting on Wednesday due to a dispute between players and the national federation over image rights, organizers said on Tuesday. 

"The Spanish Badminton Federation ... withdraw their team ... due to internal issues around player publicity rights," Badminton Europe said in a statement. 

The Spanish team, featuring women's world singles champion Carolina Marin, had been drawn in group three with champions Germany and Scotland for the event in Leuven, Belgium. 

Due to Spain's withdrawal, Germany and Scotland are through to the quarterfinals and will play for top spot in the group on Thursday.

Sai, Ruthvika are national badminton champions

VIJAYAWADA: Sai Praneeth and Ruthvika Shivani emerged as the new men's and women's singles national champions in contrasting styles at the Air Costa 79th Senior National Badminton Championship here on Thursday. 

Sai Praneeth (pic)

While Sai wriggled past Sameer Verma after a nailbiting contest 19-21, 21-15, 22-20, Ruthvika registered a dominant victory against her training partner Rituparna Das 21-13, 21-13. 

Siki Reddy and Pradnya Gadre, who beat Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the team event here, are the new national women's doubles champions. The duo defeated Prajakta Sawant and Aparna Balan in the summit clash 21-12, 16-21, 21-18. However, Aparna and her partner Arun Vishnu clinched the mixed title with a 21-16, 11-21, 21-15 victory over Siki and Tarun Kona. Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lifted the men's doubles title with a 1721, 21-13, 21-17 victory over Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra. Sai, whose biggest achievement so far was beating legendary shuttler Taufik Hidayat in the latter's last international match, wriggled out in the last minute to beat Sameer.The training partners enthralled the crowd with some stunning rallies, ferocious exchanges and breathtaking drops. 

Sai, who had lost to Sameer in the team event, was beaten by latter's brother Saurabh in 2012 edition's finals. He got his rhythm going in the second game. After securing a lead of 11-7 at the break, Sai widened it to 18-12 before closing the issue at 21-15. However, it was the decider the duo dished out electrifying entertainment to the fans making it the best match of the tournament. 

National championship organizers may sue Saina & Co for not participating in 79th Senior National Badminton Championships

VIJAYAWADA: The withdrawal of top shuttlers from the 79th Senior National Badminton Championships has irked the organizers so much that they have decided to take these superstars to court.

Lambasting Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram etc, Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association (APBA) secretary K Punnaiah Choudhary said that it is time the indifferent attitude of these players towards Nationals was dealt with.

"Senior Nationals is the premier tournament in the country. How can these players miss these events? We are witnessing this trend only now. Earlier, all the top players used to compete in the Nationals. Even Sachin Tendulkar used to play Ranji Trophy. We are not going to take this issue lightly. We will move court as BAI is also losing a lot," Choudhary said and asked why the government should honour these players with national awards.

"These players apply for top honours from the government but don't do their bit by giving back to the game when it is required. The presence of these players could have popularised the game in this part of the country.

"Every year organisers of the Nationals are suffering because of their absence. Saina started this trend a few years back and others are following now. We'll request the court to direct the government to stop honouring these players."

The APBA secretary also highlighted the fact that the players don't miss events like the Indian Badminton League (IBL). "They don't miss IBL because it fetches them a lot of money. But they produce medical certificates to miss these events. Some of them who had sent medical certificates are attending wedding receptions. Saina or PSPB did not even respond to our e-mails. This is callous," Choudhary said.

Participation in the Nationals was made mandatory by BAI but players find a way out by taking part in the team event and missing the individual events, Choudhary said.

"A couple of years ago, BAI made it mandatory for all the players to participate in the Nationals. But some of them play in the team event and miss individual events. I will raise this issue in our meeting," he said, referring to the likes of Sindhu and Srikanth who left after the team events ended on Sunday.

India's chief coach Pullela Gopichand said that the issue needs to be addressed seriously. "This is a serious problem and we have to address it," Gopi said.

RWA badminton meet in seven cities

NEW DELHI: The first of its kind initiative, the RWA Badminton Championships, organized jointly by The Times of India and PNB MetLife is set to get underway across seven cities from Saturday. 

Over a million residents from 1,000 housing societies in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore will take part in the event. The tournament will give enthusiastic shuttlers a chance to represent their society while bringing families together in a fun and healthy way. 

Winners from each society will get the chance to compete on a grander stage at the City Finals to be held in April this year to vie for the City RWA badminton champion's crown. 

The event is being organised by the agency 'Just My Neighbour'. Societies and RWAs interested in participating in the tournament should register at http:www.playforhappiness.in or call +91-9582095035+91124-4037479