Sindhu, Saina, Srikanth line up at Sr Nationals

Almost all the top Indian shuttlers, including K Srikanth, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, will be seen in action in the seven-day Senior National Badminton Championship which begins here on Thursday.

Besides Olympic medallists Sindhu and Saina, the championship will see the in-form Srikanth who became the first Indian and fourth in the world to win four Super Series titles in a calendar year, and there's  no  doubt, Srikanth will be the favourite to win the title in the men's singles.

In the women's singles, Saina and Sindhu may clash in some stage, which will be a rare occasion for the badminton fans to relish.

Other top Indian shuttlers who will be taking part in the championships include HS Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram, Sai Praneeth B, Sameer Verma, Sourabh Verma, Parupalli Kashyap and Danial Farid in men's singles and Rituparna Das and Anura Prabhudesai in women's singles.

Over 400 players from 29 states and two union territories will take part in the event.

Srikanth, Prannoy, Jayaram, Sai Praneeth, Verma brothers, Kashyap and Farid have been given direct entry to the pre-quarterfinals in men's singles. Similarly, Sindhu, Saina, Rituparna and Anura will start the tournament from the pre-quarterfinals in women's singles.

In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty, Manu Attri/ Reddy B, Arjun M R/ Ramchandran Shlok and the top pair from the latest BAI rankings have been handed a direct entry to the quarterfinals.

In women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa/ Reddy N Sikki, Sanjana Santosh/ Arathi Sara Sunil, Jakkampudi Meghana/ S Ram Poorvisha and a top pair from latest BAI rankings will start the tournament from the quarterfinals.

In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra/ Reddy N Sikki, Reddy B Sumeeth/ Ashwini Ponnappa, top and second ranked pair from the latest BAI rankings have been handed a direct entry to the quarterfinals.