World number 30 Chetan Anand, National champion Anup Sridhar and P Kashyap are the top three Indians in the men's draw at the US $10,000 Asian Satellite Badminton tournament, to be held at the Goregaon Sports Club, in North-West Mumbai from November 14 to 17.
Danish men Peter Mikkelsen, ranked 65, and Michael Christiansen (75) are expected to pose tough challenges to the Indians in the absence of entries from world badminton powerhouses China and Indonesia.
Lower-ranked shuttlers from South Korea (19 men and women) and Malaysia (8) will also figure in the tournament.
Rising woman shuttler Saina Nehwal (ranked 32nd in the world) heads the women's list and is expected to face a tough challenge from Korean world No 39 Soo Young Jang.
Besides Saina, India will field 34 players, including women shuttlers Trupti Murgunde (57), Aditi Mutatkar (109) and Jwala Gutta (185).
The men's and women's singles winners will take home US $800 and US $690 respectively, with the losing finalists eligible for half these amounts.
The winning men's and women's doubles pairs would get US $720 and 610 respectively. The mixed doubles pair will also receive US $610.
V K Verma, president of the Badminton Association of India and secretary-general of the continental body, said the event would be a build-up for bigger events to be held in
India, including next year's US $200,000 tournament, to be held either in Mumbai or Hyderabad.
"We have also been allotted the 2009 World Championship which would be held in Delhi," Verma said.
The BAI chief said Indian players need to adhere to a schedule worked out for the entire year by the apex body with a view to improve the standards overall.
"We have produced two All England champions -- Prakash Padukone and (Pullela) Gopichand, but they have come through individually.
"Now we have put a system in place and it will be strictly adhered to. It has fixed months for training at one place, to improve the players' speed and stamina, and for taking part in tournaments -- both overseas and in India.
"We do not want to stop players who don't adhere to stick to this schedule from taking part in major events like Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships, but for other events they will not be considered," he said.
Verma did not hold out much promise to any Indian winning a medal at next month's Asian Games in Doha either in individual or team events, but said the shuttlers would put up a good display.
"The gap between the top four nations in Asia and the rest is too big to bridge in a short time. I don't expect any medals," he said.
"But I am sure our players would give a good account of themselves," he added.
Verma said the International Badminton Federation's president Punch Gunalan, a former great player from Malaysia, would be attending the Asian Satellite tournament.
