Yunus, Ratnasari given pride of place

Indonesia`s Yunus Alamsyah, men`s singles semi finalist at the Indian Open Badminton Grand Prix in Hbd, and compatriot Ratnasari Fransiska - are the top seeds in the Tata Open India International Challenge starting from Tuesday

Mumbai: Indonesia`s Yunus Alamsyah, men`s singles semi finalist at last week`s Indian Open Badminton Grand Prix in Hyderabad, and compatriot Ratnasari Fransiska - losing women`s finalist in the same tournament - are the top seeds in the Tata Open India International Challenge starting from Tuesday.

India`s Ajay Jayaram is the number two seed among men while the host nation`s Trupti Murgunde is the fourth seed among women in the touranament to be held in the Cricket Club of India`s refurbished courts. The opening day would see only the men`s singles qualifying rounds with eight players advancing to the 32-man tournament commencing the next day. Yunus is to meet India`s Aditya Prakash in the first round while Jayaram would clash with Indonesian Arif Ramadhan.The other seeded Indians in the main draw are: Anand Pawar, Arvind Bhat and Anup Sridhar. Third seed Pawar will meet a qualifier first, eighth seed Sridhar would meet Malaysia`s Misbun Ramdan, son of legendary Misbun Sidek, and fourth seed Bhat takes on a qualifier. Indonesia`s Tommy Sugiarto, son of former world champion Icuk Sugiarto, Russian Stanislav Pukhov and Singapore`s Wong Zi Derek are seeded between 5-7 in men`s singles. In women`s singles, Trupti has been given a first round bye along with top seed Fransiska, second seed Jindapol Nitchaon of Thailand and third seed Ana Rovita of Indonesia. PTI