Badminton

India Open Gold Grand Prix

India Open Gold Grand Prix was held in Hyderabad from 24 to 29 March. Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat defeated Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia to clinch the men’s singles title. In the women’s group, Pi Hongyan of France beat Julia Pei Zian Wong of Malaysia in the final. Chinese and Malaysian teams won the men’s and women’s doubles competitions respectively. Indonesia’s Limpele Flandy and Vita Marissa won the mixed doubles title. They beat the Indian pair of V. Diju and Jwala Gutta.

Senior National Badminton Championship

The annual Senior National Badminton Championship was held in Indore between 14 and 18 February. This was the 73rd edition of the championship. Arvind Bhat won the men’s singles title beating P. Kashyap 21-19, 21-14. The women’s title was clinched by Sayali Gokhale. She  defeated P.C. Tulasi 21-17, 16-21, 21-23. In doubles events, the pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanmay Thomas grabbed the title in men’s group while Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian became women’s winner. The mixed doubles title went to the pair of Gutta and V. Diju.

All England Super Series

The 2009 All England Super Series was the 99th edition of the All England Open Badminton Championships. It was held from March 3 to 8 in  Birmingham, England. Chinese shutlers dominated the tournament as China became the first nation ever to win all five titles there. The resultswere as follows: Men’s singles: Lin Dan beat Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) Women’s singles: Wang Yihan beat Tine Rasmussen (Denmark) Men’s doubles: Cai Yun & Fu Haifeng beat Han Sang-hoon & Hwang Ji-man (S. Korea) Women’s doubles: Zhang Yawen & Zhao Tingting beat Cheng Shu & Zhao Yunlei (China) Mixed doubles: He Hanbin & Yu Yang beat Ko Sung-hyun & Ha Jung-eun (S. Korea)

Syed Modi International Grand Prix

The prestigious tournament played in the memory of late Syed Modi was held between 16 and 20 December in Lucknow. India’s Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand clinched singles title in women’s and men’s categories respectively. Mixed doubles title also won by the Indian pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan. However, another Indian pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Jisnhu Sanyal lost their title match to Indonesia’s Adnan Fauxi and Tri Kusumawardana. The women’s doubles title went to Japanese pair of Misaki Matusutomo and Akaya Tekahashim.