New Delhi, March 7 : The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Thursday announced a cash incentive of over INR 1.12 crore to the players and support staff for their success in major international tournaments including the Asian Games, Badminton Asia Team Championship and the BWF World Junior Championships.

The women's team that won the historic Badminton Asia Team Championship (BATC) crown last month will get INR 35 lakh, 2022 Asian Games gold medallist men's doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are awarded INR 12 lakh, 2022 Asian Games men's singles bronze medallist HS Prannoy will receive INR 5 lakh while the men's team that bagged the 2022 Asian Games silver for the first time will collectively get a prize sum of INR 40 lakh.

The BAI has also rewarded 2023 BWF World Championships bronze medallist Ayush Shetty (INR 1 lakh), Badminton Asia Junior U-15 boys singles champion Bornil Aakash Changmai (INR2 lakh), U-17 girls singles silver medallist Tanvi Sharma (INR 1 lakh) and U-15 boys singles bronze medallist Jagsher Singh Khangurra (INR 50,000).

'Indian badminton is on the upswing and this has been achieved due to the hard work and dedication of the players and the support staff. BAI has always been at the forefront of applauding the success of the players and this cash prize is just another way of acknowledging their efforts and incentivising the future generation to aim for bigger success,' said BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra.

BAI has also decided to give a prize money of INR 18 lakh for the Yonex-Sunrise 45th Indian Masters National Badminton Championships to be held in Panchkula, Haryana from March 16.

'The participation and level of competition has been going up over the years and many players are now making a mark on the international circuit. A sizable prize money for the Masters Nationals will only help popularise the Masters circuit in the country and attract many more talented shuttlers to continue playing and winning laurels for the country,' Mishra further added.

The support staff accompanying the women's team at BATC and Asian Games men's team will also earn INR 8 lakh each.

/IANS