PLAYERS and officials have begun arriving in the Kingdom ahead of the eagerly awaited Bahrain International Challenge badminton tournament being orga

PLAYERS and officials have begun arriving in the Kingdom ahead of the eagerly awaited Bahrain International Challenge badminton tournament being organised by the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) in association with the Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation.

The event will be held from Tuesday to Saturday at the BKS Diamond Jubilee Hall and entrance is free on all days of competition.

The tournament carries a cash prize of $15,000 and world ranking points will be at stake. More than 175 players and officials from 30 countries are taking part in the event including top ranked players like Prmyslaw Wacha, Eric Pang, Judith Meulendijks, Sanave Thomas, Rupesh Kumar, Nicole Grether and Charmaine Reid.

Matches will start at 4 pm. The quarter-finals will be played on Friday morning and the semi-finals on the same evening. Finals will start on Saturday at 6pm.

Sudhakar Vemuri of India will be the Badminton Asia Confederation appointed referee. BKS Indoor Games secretary and convener of the organising committee Ashley George welcomed Vemuri on his arrival yesterday.

The Iranian team also arrived yesterday along with deputy referee for the tournament Zahra Haghnejad.

Iraq, Jordan and Syria were the other teams to arrive yesterday.

The major sponsors for this event are Almarai and Chevron. Main sponsor is Mohammed Jalal & Sons and co-sponsors are IPS Trade Middle East, Ahmed Zayani & Sons, Dubai Horizon, R.P Construction, Orange Graphics, Berger Paints and Maison Interiors.