For the first time in the history of the Babolat Kharkov International more than 200 players will take part in the International Challenge tournament (15.000 US Dollars), which commences today with the qualification stage.

The entries were submitted from representatives of 23 countries, namely: Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, England, Estonia, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.

Players to watch:

Kharkov will host international players of a high level: Robert Blair (Scotland) –  Silver medalist at the 2006 World Championships in the men's doubles; Imogen Bankier (Scotland) – Silver medalist at the 2011 World Championships in the mixed doubles; Henri Hurskainen (Sweden) – Silver medalist at the 2012 European Championships in the men’s singles; Joachim Persson - Silver medalist at the 2008 European Championships in the men's singles; Emil Holst (Denmark) – European Junior Champion 2009 in the men’s singles; Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria) – who took the fifth place at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. The Indonesian Junior National Team has sent a strong team to Kharkov as well.



“This year we organize the tournament for the fifth time. We are pleased that its popularity is growing in Europe and even in the World. This proves a decent level of organization and the fact that Ukraine becomes more visible in the badminton world”, - noticed Gennadiy Makhnovskiy, Kharkiv Badminton Federation President.

The Referee of the tournament is Marcel Schormans (NED). The Deputy Referee is Christos Evangelidis (GRE).

To follow the Kharkov results and schedules check out

Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Women's doubles
Mixed doubles

Article by Kharkiv Badminton Federation, Photo by BadmintonPhoto.

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