Para badminton players are set for a first taste of international competition this year in Dubai ©Fazza Championships for the People of Determination

The 2021 Para badminton season is set to open with the Dubai Para Badminton International Championships, which start tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates.

Running until Sunday (April 4), the competition is the first of eight on the 2021 calendar.

It will be the first Badminton World Federation (BWF) Para badminton tournament held in more than a year due to COVID-19, with the last taking place in Peru in February 2020.

As many as 127 players from 29 countries have confirmed their intention to play in the event, including several world champions.

Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila, India’s four-time world champion Pramod Bhagat, fellow Indian Manasi Joshi and France’s Lucas Mazur are among the past and present world champions due to compete.

"I always knew that none other than Dubai could have conducted the first tournament after the pandemic hit," said Joshi.

"The infrastructure, the people, the system and structure in Dubai and by Fazza are some of the best in the world to organise Para events."

India will have the biggest team with 26 players.

The host nation will be represented by six players including two women.

"This is the season opener for Para badminton and we are happy to welcome the Para badminton teams from 29 countries and see some of the best action this week," said Thani Juma Barregad, chairman of the tournament.

This year’s event has been renamed to pay tribute to Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, the deputy ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, who died on Wednesday (March 24).

Athletes had all arrived by yesterday and were tested for COVID-19 at the airport.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the BWF and the Organising Committee have created a COVID-19 protocol which includes preventative measures such as regular hand sanitisation and social distancing.

All team delegations had to provide a negative polymerase chain reaction test no older than 72 hours at their departure airport, before arriving in Dubai where they were tested again.

After arrival, all personnel had to stay in their hotel rooms until a negative test result was confirmed.

Positive cases will be moved to a quarantine complex and managed by health authorities, while those in close contact will be tested again.

Body temperature will be tested at the accommodation and competition venue and face masks are mandatory at all times except when players are competing on the court.