Reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and three-time world champion Carolina Marin were among seven top singles players who on Monday pulled out of the $850,000 India Open, which commenced at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the capital on Tuesday.
The seven singles players – five men and two women – include former world champion Loh Kean Yew and Malaysia Open champion Anders Antonsen, who won the Super 1000 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Hindustan Times reports.
“After my match on Saturday I’ve been lying in bed ill and after talking with the medical team present here in Malaysia, I’ve been advised to get additional checkup,” Axelsen posted on social media. “That means that I unfortunately won’t be able to travel and be present at India Open this year, which is rather disappointing as it has been a tournament where I’ve loved to play in front of the Indian badminton fans.”
Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and Malaysian Ng Tze Yong are the other two men’s shuttlers who have also pulled out while South Korean Kim Ga Eun is the other women’s shuttler to have withdrawn apart from Marin.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play the India Open this week as I’m not fully recovered yet I was looking forward to starting the year in India and feeling the love of the fans, especially after the last few months. You know my love for India is huge. See you next week!” tweeted Marin, who had also pulled out of last week’s Malaysia Open due to flu.
The biggest withdrawal from women’s doubles were top seeds Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan of China along with Indonesian fifth seeds Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and South Koreans Kim Hye Jeong/Jeong Na Eun.
Mixed doubles also suffered a withdrawal with top seeds Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong.
Meanwhile, Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary general Sanjay Mishra said that the prize money for India Open will be increased by $8500,000 to $900,000 from next season.
The annual tournament was elevated from Super 500 to 750 last year which had also resulted in the increased prize money from $400,000 to $850,000.
