India Open badminton to be held at IGI Stadium for first time

India Open will have a new address this time with Indira Gandhi International Stadium (IGI) set to host the ninth edition of the World Tour Super 500 badminton tournament from March 26 to 31.

After eight successful years, the USD 350,000 tournament will return for its ninth edition with the best names in the business descending on the capital for the event.

This marque tournament was previously held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex for the last seven years.

The Indira Gandhi International Stadium (IGI) in the past has hosted landmark sports events like the 1982 Asian Games and recently, the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.

All the matches will be played at the K.D Jadhav Indoor Hall located within the IGI stadium.

"Historically India has registered good results in this tournament and I am confident our players will repeat the feat this year too; especially playing at a new and historic venue like Indira Gandhi Stadium," BAI President Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The tournament has evolved a long way since its inception in 2008. The first three editions of the India Open, then a Grand Prix Gold level tournament of the BWF tournament structure were hosted in Hyderabad.

It was upgraded later to a BWF Superseries Tournament in 2011 and since then India Open is part of the World Tour and hosted at the National Capital.

With the Olympic Qualification starting later this year; this year's India Open will see a host of top players from world badminton trying to amass as many ranking points possible to guarantee a direct entry for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.