The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Saturday announced that India Open has been bumped to Super 750 status from Super 500.
The apex badminton body further revealed there will be an additional four stops on the BWF World Tour from 2023 to 2026 as part of expansion plans announced on Saturday.
The 31-event new World Tour calendar, which includes the year-end BWF World Tour Finals, will see more Super 1000, Super 750, and Super 500 tournaments, bringing greater prize money opportunities for players.
The announcement caps an exciting bid process which saw healthy interest from all host bidders.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said the BWF World Tour 2023-2026 promises to elevate the status of badminton globally.
"Badminton is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world with all-time high participation and fan numbers. More tournaments give us a fantastic opportunity to enhance the sport's reach around the world, not only in established territories but in new ones as well. It also allows for more players to enter our elite circuit and gain valuable experience," he said.
"We were very encouraged by the large number of high-quality bids we received and that bodes well for a bigger and better tour across the next four years. It enables us to commit to higher prize money, greater coverage on television and online, and spectacular presentation, all contributing to an enhanced world-class sports product that we seek."
Lund confirmed there would be no change to current player commitment obligations.
Highlights of expansion plans by BWF include:
The Malaysia Open joins the All England Open, China Open, and Indonesia Open as the tour's highest-level Super 1000 tournaments.
The India Open and Singapore Open have been bumped to Super 750 status. Existing Super 750 hosts from China, Denmark, France, and Japan have maintained their status.
The Super 500 level welcomes host cities from three new continents with tournaments in Australia, Canada, and Finland, joining tournaments in Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and an additional new host in Japan.
Two existing Super 100 tournaments have been elevated to the BWF World Tour Super 300 level: HYLO Open and Orleans Masters.
The expansion is bankrolled by a significant investment from BWF and commercial partner Infront over four years.
A host for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals will be announced at a later date. BWF Tour Super 100 hosts will also be announced separately.
( With inputs from ANI )
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