Lin Dan to make India Open debut

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The fifth edition of the $275,000 India Open Super Series will kick off here from March 24 with the cream of world badminton vying for the titles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

The main attraction of the tournament will undoubtedly be two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China. The five-time World Champion would be making his first appearance in individual events in India.

The 31-year-old was in the national capital last year to represent China in the Thomas Cup but 'Super' Dan was playing intermediately at that time.

However, he has made it clear that he would be playing more in order to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics and would be keen to become the first Chinese men's singles player to bag the India Open crown in his very first appearance.

Challenging him would be top seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark and China Open Super Series Premier champion Kidambi Srikanth of India apart from his own compatriot and seventh seed Zhemgming Wang.

In women's singles, the first Indian woman to reach the All England Open final, Saina Nehwal would be looking for her maiden India Open. World No.3 Saina has been given top billing with reigning World and All England champion Carolina Marin of Spain leading the charge in the bottom half of the draw.

"Like every year, we have a very competitive field for the India Open Super Series with almost all top players vying for the prestigious crown. In the last four years, we have made New Delhi a very important milestone in the BWF Super Series circuit," Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta said.

"With the Indian players doing extremely well in the international circuit, I hope that we will soon see an Indian lifting the crown on home soil."

In the pair events, defending men's doubles champions Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark and their mixed doubles compatriots Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen have been given top billing.