Badminton: Smt. Krishna Khaitan All India Junior tourney set to start with qualifiers

31st edition of Smt. Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Bminton Tournament, a premier competition for country's junior shuttlers, will start here on Thursday with a prize purse of Rs four lakh at stake.

tournament, which is organised by Express Shuttle Club Trust in association with Haryana Bminton Association, will be held at Tau Devi Lal Multipurpose Indoor Stium, here.

Sports goods brand Yonex Sunrise has also tied up with host body for conduct of event, taking forward an association that goes back to more than two deces.

qualifying rounds will be held from September 12 to 15 followed by main draw matches from September 16 to 19. Players born on or before Jaunary 1, 2006 are eligible to participate and over 1,000 are expected to enter ir names in competition.

Viveck Goenka, Chairman of Indian Express group, is sponsor of tournament, which he started in 1991 in memory of his mor Krishna Khaitan.

"We are also grateful to Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma , President, Bminton Association of India, for sanctioning prize money of Rs 4,00,000/- for this tournament," organisers stated in a press release.

event has been a stepping stone for India's shuttlers with prominent past winners being Olympic medal-winning superstars Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

While London Games bronze-medallist Saina won event in 2005, Sindhu, who has two Olympic medals to her credit, claimed this title back in 2010.

"We are certain that many more champions will emerge from this edition of tournament," stated release from tournament organisers.

Last year's winner in women's competition was Anmol Kharb, who me quite a splash earlier this year with her gutsy performances in India's gold-winning run at Asian Team Championships in Malaysia.