Badminton
BAI joins hands with Sony Pictures Networks India to broadcast Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022
It's time for the fans to brace themselves for yet another season of exciting badminton action in the country
It's time for the fans to brace themselves for yet another season of exciting badminton action in the country as the Badminton Association of India (BAI) today announced Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) as the exclusive broadcast partner for the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022, that is currently being played in New Delhi and will go on till January 16, 2022.
The Badminton Association of India has been organising the on-going 11th edition of the tournament and now viewers are all set to witness exciting on-court action with the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew and bronze medallist Lakshya Sen as well as the two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu and the 2015 India Open champion Saina Nehwal are headlining the draws as the tournament will be shown live on Sony Ten 1 channel and streamed live on SonyLIV, the network's premium OTT platform, starting from the quarter-finals, on January 14, until the end of the tournament, on January 16.
BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said, "We are glad to have Sony Pictures Networks India as the broadcaster for the Yonex-Sunrise India Open. Unfortunately, this year we are not having spectators as well as media covering the event, but now they can enjoy the action from their home and watch world-class badminton action played in India after a long time."
With close to 22 hours of live badminton action both on television and digital platforms, badminton enthusiasts will be able to see the top shuttlers including the three-time world champion duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan along with other top ranked players including World No. 12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, Singapore's Jia Min Yeo and the pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and HS Prannoy among the Indians as the tournament completes a decade of hosting the sport.
Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India said: "Badminton has a passionate following in the country, and we are happy to broadcast Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022. Close to 70 million viewers followed the sport on TV in 2021 due to the strong performances of Indian players like PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, who won medals at global marquee tournaments last year. Badminton was also one of the top watched sports disciplines in the recently held 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games on our network, with PV Sindhu's semi-final match achieving the highest ratings on TV among all the Olympic events that were telecasted."
The prestigious event, which also kickstarted the BWF World Tour calendar, made a return after a gap of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is being played at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at India Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi and the live coverage of the tournament will start from 12 30 PM from January 14 to January 16, 2022.