LUCKNOW, Nov. 24 -- Some of the world's finest badminton talent will be seen in action in the Syed Modi India International World Tour Super 300 Badminton Championship, beginning Tuesday, at the Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy here. Shuttlers like Kidambi Srikanth, Olympians Nozomi Okuhara, HS Prannoy, rising stars Priyanshu Rajawat, Tanvi Sharma, Anmol Kharb and Unnati Hooda, and last year's women's doubles champions Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand P. are among the leading contenders for the event. UP Badminton Association's chief Navneet Sehgal on Sunday said that a total prize purse of USD 240,000 will be up for grabs. Qualifying matches, along with select main draw matches, will be held on November 25. The main draw across all five categories - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles - will feature 32 players or pairs each. Of these, 28 entries will be direct, with the remaining four spots filled through qualifiers. "We are proud to welcome some of the biggest names in world badminton. Through this championship, we hope to inspire the youth of Uttar Pradesh by exposing them to the highest standards of international sport," said Sehgal. A total of 250 players from 20 countries - including India, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Denmark, Thailand, Turkiye, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong-China, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, UAE, and Israel - will participate this year, with India fielding the largest contingent of 152 players. Secretary of the Lucknow District Badminton Association, Anil Dhyani, on Sunday passed away after a brief illness at a government hospital. Dhyani, 70, is survived by his wife and a son. A former national doubles shuttler, Dhyani came to Lucknow from Roorkee in the 1980s and retired from the state electricity department. Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association also condoled the death of Dhyani....