Two-time defending champion Anirban Lahiri will aim for a hat-trick of titles but will face stiff competition from a stellar line-up of Asian Tour stars at the SAIL-SBI Open next week.
Five players from the top-10 of last year's final Order of Merit and 13 of the top-20 have committed to the tournament to be played from February 26.
Lahiri, who finished third on the Merit list last season, will spearhead the local hopes once again at the venerable Delhi Golf Club against a field which includes EurAsia Cup teammates Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh and Malaysia's Nicholas Fung, the 2013 Asian Development Tour number one.
Former Order of Merit champions Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and India's Jyoti Randhawa, who finished top-20 last year, will also be back to challenge for the SAIL-SBI Open title at a venue which they have tasted victory in the past.
Other leading lights who have signed up for the USD 300,000 tournament include Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, winner of the season-ending King's Cup Golf Hua Hin in January, countrymen Prom Meesawat, Chawalit Plalphol, Chapchai Nirat and Arnond Vongvanij, Filipino Angelo Que, India's S.S.P. Chowrasia, Korea's Kim Gi-whan and American Berry Henson.
Lahiri will need to be at his best as the likes of Chowrasia and Karlberg have also won at the Delhi Golf Club previously on the Asian Tour, which is the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia.
The SAI-SBI Open will also be the first tournament for the recent Qualifying School graduates to shine on the region's premier Tour.
Japan's Akinori Tani, who topped the Qualifying School, will be in the fray alongside Singaporean Lam Chih Bing, Korean duo Lee Tae-hee and Shin Hyuk-chul and Pakistan's Hamza Amin, who earned his Tour card on his third try at the Qualifying School.
