Searching for a diamond in the trough

Bengaluru: The senior national championships is a tournament revered by Indian shuttlers. For, it is an event which has served as a launch pad for many developing players. 

While the previous two occasions when the competition came to Bengaluru held a similar significance, the Yonex-Sunrise 77th Inter-State Inter-Zonal & 86th Senior National Badminton Championships set to begin here from Wednesday promises to be another interesting affair. 

In 2006, when the city hosted the 70th edition of the tournament, an ageing Aparna Popat - vying for a ninth consecutive national title to equal Prakash Padukone’s record - in the women’s singles defeated a youngster who was touted as the next big superstar: Saina Nehwal.

In the men’s singles final, it was a battle of two Bengaluru boys - Anup Sridhar, who became an Olympian in 2008, beating his good friend Aravind Bhat. 

The 78th edition in 2012 gave a peek into the beginnings of a career that would go on to take Indian badminton to newer heights. She went by the name PV Sindhu, and she won the first of her two national titles here. 

Now, with the sport in the country at a crossroads, the courts at the Karnataka Badminton Association are filled with anticipation to find the next bankable player.   

Much like the last few editions, the biggest names over the past decade have chosen to give the event a miss. But then again, the match-ups here were always going to be about shining light on the future prospects. 

In this context, while the defending champions Chirag Sen (men’s) and Anmol Kharb (women’s) will be eager to protect their crowns, Bharath Raghav and Tanvi Sharma will be close on their heels. 

As for challengers from the host state, Bhargav S, Sanith Dayanand and Mithun Manjunath are readying themselves to shine on home ground in the men’s section while Tanya Hemanth and Illisha Pal hope to make a mark in the women’s draw. In the women’s doubles category, homegrown players Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Goutham, who finished with a bronze at the Odisha Masters last week, begin their quest for a second title after winning it in 2018. 

With 456 participants, the week-long event has a total prize money of Rs 50 lakh. While the men's and women's champions will take home a cheque of Rs 3.25 lakh each, the doubles' winners will be richer by Rs 3.45 lakh. 

But before the individual contests start on December 20, seven teams each in the men's and women's sections will kick off the Inter-state Inter-Zonal championships beginning on Wednesday.