New Delhi: Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal have got the top billing for the Pramod Mahajan All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, beginning here tomorrow.

P Kashyap, B Chetan Anand, Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat are next in line in the men's singles seeding list, while Trupti Murgunde, Aditi Mutatkar and Aparna Balan follow Saina in the women's chart for the tournament offering a total prize money of Rs 9 lakhs.

Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar are the top seeds in the men's doubles draw followed by Jose George and J P Ismail.

However, the country's top doubles players Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian, ranked as high as No 24 in the world, have pulled out of the event.

"They are not participating. They are preparing for the Beijing Olympics and have informed us about their unavailability," said Vikram Bhasin, General Secretary of the Pramod Mahajan Club.

Dipti Shalini and Dipti Priyadarshini are the top seeds in the women's doubles.

The winners in both men's and women's singles categories will pocket Rs. 1,10,000 each, whereas winners in each of the doubles events will get Rs 60,000.

The qualifying matches will start tomorrow, while the main draw will begin on January 3 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

On the basis of the performance in this tournament, BAI's selection committee will pick the squad for the Thomas and Uber Cup events.

Source : PTI