Jamshedpur, Nov. 30: Top shuttlers of the country will meet in the steel city to participate in the Rs 4-lakh JRD Tata All India Senior Prize Money Badminton Championship.

The championship, organised by the Jharkhand Badminton Association (JBA), will be held at the Mohan Ahuja Stadium from December 14 to 18.

Sources in the JBA said top players of the country, including Pulella Gopichand, Aparna Popat, Abhishyam Gupta, Chetan Anand, Sachin Rathi, Jwala Guttu, B.R. Meenakshi, Nikhil Kanitkar and Tripti Murgunde will participate in the championship.

Gopichand recently won the Asian Satellite Badminton Championship held in Hyderabad.

?The city is not a new venue for top shuttlers of the country. Many of them have already come here for various national events,? JBA officials added.

Some of the entries have already arrived and the rest will follow soon, officials said, adding that it is an important championship which the top players would not like to miss.

?Players from states like Tamil Nadu have already sent their entries for the meet. We are expecting more in the days to come,? the officials said.

?The championship assumes significance as it would double as a selection of the national team for the upcoming French Open and the all England Open,? a JBA functionary said.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has marked three badminton championships, including the one to be held here, as part of selection procedure to the senior team for the two major international championships.

Senior officials of the BAI and members of the senior selection panel are expected to come for the meet.

A senior JBA official said the championship would become an annual feature as Tata Steel has given its commitment to the BAI to hold the prize money championship in the city.

?It would be on the lines of the Tata Open Tennis Meet held annually in Chennai,? he added.

The Tata Open tennis has emerged as a prestigious tournament. The badminton championship would also join the same bracket after some years, the official said.

The official said a prize money badminton championship was organised in the city in 2002.

?Top players had participated in that championship but we couldn?t continue the following year. But now it?s a commitment to the national badminton body and it will be an annual feature,? he said.

Adequate arrangement will be made for the smooth conduct of the championship.

?Lining of the three wooden courts as well as other arrangements will begin soon. We are also going to form an organising panel for the success of the championship,? JBA officials said.