Saipraneeth, Arundhati get pride of place

Pune (PTI): B Saipraneeth and Arundhati Pantawane have been given top seedings in the men's and women's singles competition respectively of the V V Natu Memorial All India Senior Ranking Badminton tournament to be held here from July 17-21. K Srikanth, who recently won the Thailand Open Super Series, has been seeded second in the championship to be held at the P E Society's Modern PDMBA Sports Complex at Shivaji Nagar after a six-year gap. In the women's singles, Air India's Tanvi Lad has been seeded number two behind former national champion Arundhati of PSPB. The tournament, carrying prize money of Rs five lakh, is being organised by the Poona District and Metropolitan Badminton Association, under the auspices of Maharashtra Badminton Association and the Badminton Association of India. Sixteen qualifiers will be joining the main draw players in the singles events. "We are indeed happy to host this prestigious tournament after a gap of over 6 years. PDMBA has hosted the tournament before for 5 years between the years 2001 and 2006. Only 5 such tournaments are played in the country every year and best of the senior players participate," said tournament secretary Uday Sane.