India Open Badminton To Be Held From January 30

The India Open badminton tournament will be held from January 30 to February 4 in New Delhi as per the remodelled schedule released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). India's premier badminton tournament was earlier scheduled for the March-April slot. The India Open will be played at New Delhi's Siri Fort Indoor Stadium. As per the BWF's schedule, the season kick will off on January 9 with the Thailand Masters in Bangkok and conclude with the $1.5 million BWF World Tour Finals, scheduled from December 12 to 16 in Guangzhou.

On Monday, the BWF remodelled the year's schedule by replacing the Super Series and Grand Prix events by introducing a five-level World Tour in Guangzhou, China. The tournament will be valid from 2018 to 2021.

The year 2017 will be remembered as a game-changer for Indian badminton.

Till the start of 2017, there were just two names that were on the fans' lips -- Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. But all that changed this year and how. The country welcomed a new star -- Kidambi Srikanth -- who with his performances showed that Indian male shuttlers can be just as competitive as the women at the biggest stage.

From being rank outsiders, Indians suddenly went into tournaments believing they could win and this was clear to see from the performances of the likes of Srikanth, HS Prannoy and Sai Praneeth.

Besides breaking into the top 10, Prannoy beat some big names like Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long and Lin Dan. He reached the semi-finals of the French Open and even beat Srikanth in the Nationals.