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Lin, Wei get top billing for Indian Open badminton
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August 22, 2007 23:04 IST

Newly-crowned World champion Zhu Lin of China and Malaysian Lee Chong Wei have been given top billing in the women's and men's singles at the US $150,000 Yonex Sunrise India Open in Hyderabad from September 4 to 9.

India's Anup Sridhar, who scalped Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and gave Lin Dan a torrid time in the quarter-finals of the World Championships last week, is seeded 13th while national champion Chetan Anand, seeded 11th, has got a bye in the first round of the event which features a host of top international stars.

Sridhar will kick-off his campaign against Beng Hong Kuan of Malyasia, while in the women's draw, seventh seed Saina Nehwal [Images] faces Yoana Martinez of Spain, according to the draw announced in Kuala Lumpur.

Seventeen Indian players, 11 in the men's draw and six in women's section, will take part in singles events of the tournament.

World No 3 Chong Wei faces a tough challenge from compatriot Bao Chunlai and Chen Yu while Hidayat is also a serious threat to the Malaysian's title hopes.

In the men's doubles, Candra Wijaya of Indonesia and American Tony Gunawan have got the top billing but will be wary of the threat from the Korean and Malaysian pairs.

World Championships runners-up Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae are seeded third while their teammates Lee Jae Jin-Hwang Ji Man are the No 2 seeds.

The top Indian pair of Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave will meet Bona Septano and Ahsan Mohamad of Indonesia in the first round.

V Diju and Akshay Diwalkar and Dinesh T and Jayan James are the other two Indian pairs in the draw.

In the women's doubles, Chinese Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen, also crowned champions in Kuala Lumpur last week, continue their partnership and are the top seeds.

The Indian duo of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian have got a bye in the first round. Besides them Aparna Balana and Saina Nehwal, and Ashwin Ponappa and Nitya Sasala, have also teamed up.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pairs of V Diju-Aparna Balan and Vineeth Manuel-Jyotsna P have got a bye in the first round.



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