26 December,2024 09:07 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Lakshya Sen
India's Lakshya Sen will look to end his season on a high when he competes in a star-studded field at the inaugural King Cup International Badminton Open, beginning in China from Friday.
The 23-year-old from Almora, who ended a title-drought with his triumph at the Syed Modi Super 300 tournament in Lucknow earlier this month, will face some of the best men's singles players in the world during the three-day event.
The 12th ranked Indian, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics after losing the playoff, will meet Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long, ranked 17th, in the first round of the competition, which will feature a total of 10 matches.
Launched by two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China, the tournament will see eight men's singles players vying for top honours.
Paris Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and world number 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark are the highest-ranked players in the competition, which will not offer any ranking points as it is not part of the BWF calendar.
Other notable players include former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Frenchman Alex Lanier. China will be represented by two 18-year-olds, Hu Zhe An and Wang Zi Jun.
India's Paralympic champion Kumar Nitesh has been nominated along with three others for the men's Para Badminton Player of the Year, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday.
Nitesh, who won his maiden gold medal in SL3 category at the Paris Paralympics, will be competing for the award with two-time Paralympic gold medallists Cheah Liek Hou (SU5) of Malaysia, Japan's Daiki Kajiwara (WH2) and China's Qu Zimo (WH1).
The 29-year-old Indian is also a two-time silver and one-time bronze medallist at the World Championships. In women's category, Li Feng Mei, Sarina Satomi, Liu Yu Tong and Leani Ratri Oktila have been nominated.
(With PTI inputs)
