Badminton Association of India (BAI) President Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday hailed the decision of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to promote the badminton India Open tournament to a BWF Super 750 event and retain Syed Modi International in its World Tour calendar.
BWF announced its decision on Saturday to upgrade the Indian Open to a BWF Super 750 event from its existing Super 500 status. The change will come into effect from the 2023 season.
The elevation in status of the Indian Open came to fruition after badminton’s world governing body decided to extend the BWF World Tour from 2023 to 2026. The move will see the number of events on the circuit expand to 31, including the BWF World Tour end-of-season finals, out of the existing 27.
“I want to thank @bwfmedia for promoting the prestigious #IndiaOpen as a Super750 tournament and keeping the Super300 #SayedModi. India is on a mission to become a badminton powerhouse,” Sarma said in a tweet.
India clinched their maiden Thomas Cup title last month after beating 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final in Bangkok and the BAI chairman believes victory in the prestigious tournament gives the country the opportunity to take badminton to the next level.
“Building on the Thomas Cup victory, this will be an opportunity to take the game to the next level,” he added.
The high status of India Open will be a big boost for badminton in India as the upgrade means an increase in prize money as well as BWF World Ranking points offered by the tournament, which in makes a much more lucrative tournament for the best players around the world.
Earlier this month, the BWF also greenlighted two international lower-tier Challenger tournaments in Nagpur and Raipur in India, to be held in September.
Following the BWF’s decision to extend its World Tour from 2023 to 2026, the number of events on the tour will increase to 31, including the BWF World Tour Season Ending Finals, from the existing 27. The number of Super 1000, Super 750 and Super 500 tournaments has also increased accordingly.
The Malaysian Open has been upgraded to join the English Open, China Open and Indonesian Open as premier Super 1000 events on the BWF World Tour. On the other hand, India Open and Singapore Open have been upgraded to Super 750 status alongside existing events in China, Denmark, France and Japan.
The Super 500 level will see the addition of four new tournaments in Australia, Canada, Finland and Japan. Existing events in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand will retain their status. Two existing Super 100 tournaments, the HYLO Open and the Orleans Masters, were also elevated to the BWF World Tour Super 300 level.
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