New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): As racquet sports continue to grow rapidly in India, Yonex Sunrise India took a significant step toward strengthening one of the most critical yet often overlooked aspects of player performance, professional racquet stringing, through an exclusive Yonex-Sunrise Stringing Workshop held today at Novotel New Delhi City Centre, Jhandewalan.

The workshop was led by globally renowned stringing expert Tim Willis, Head Stringer and Supervisor of the Yonex Stringing Team, and focused on advanced racquet stringing techniques, machine precision, athlete-specific requirements, and evolving international servicing standards across badminton and tennis, according to a release.

With over 40 years of experience, Tim Willis is regarded as one of the world's foremost racquet stringing experts. A founding member of the Yonex Stringing Team, he has worked across premier global events including the Olympic Games, BWF World Championships, Thomas & Uber Cup, and major international badminton tournaments, supporting some of the world's leading athletes like Viktor Axelsen, Carolina Marin among others.

Designed as a hands-on technical learning platform, the workshop brought together over 100 stringing professionals from 38 cities across the states of Assam, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, making it one of the largest structured technical workshops for racquet stringers conducted in India.

Yonex is a global leader in badminton, and stringing remains at the very core of racquet performance. As racquet sports continue to grow rapidly in India at both grassroots and professional levels, there has been a significant increase in awareness and demand for professional stringing services and technical expertise.

Today's players like Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and the others are far more conscious about strings, tension, consistency, and the overall performance they receive from their racquets. This growing interest has also created strong enthusiasm within the stringing community to continuously learn, improve, and deliver the best possible support to athletes.

Speaking on the session and the initiative, Tim Willis said, 'The response in New Delhi has been exceptional, especially with participants travelling from so many different cities across northern India. It is exciting to see such strong interest in professional stringing because the role of a stringer today is an important part of athlete performance and confidence. India has a passionate and fast-growing technical community, and workshops like these help create a stronger foundation for the future.'

The workshop featured Yonex Precision 9 and the new Precision 5.2 stringing machines along with practical demonstrations aimed at exposing Indian stringers to international best practices and tournament-level servicing standards.

The initiative also reflected the growing technical capabilities emerging from India within the global racquet sports ecosystem. Currently, eight Indian in-house Yonex stringers are actively contributing across major national and international events, including three women professionals in a field that has traditionally remained heavily male-dominated.

While badminton continued to form the core of participation, the workshop also included tennis stringers as Yonex Sunrise India continued expanding technical support and partnerships across racquet sports in India.

Speaking about the initiative, Vikramaditya Dhar, CEO Yonex Sunrise India said: 'As racquet sports evolve in India, the conversation also needs to move beyond athletes and tournaments to the technical systems supporting performance. Professional stringing directly impacts how players experience the game, and yet it remains one of the least understood aspects of the ecosystem. Through this initiative with Yonex, we want to help build stronger technical standards, create learning opportunities for Indian stringers, and contribute meaningfully to the long-term development of racquet sports in the country.'

Indian shuttlers have been performing successfully in the BWF tours and also won an historic bronze medal in the recently concluded Thomas Cup, only the second medal for the country in the prestigious tournament. India will also host the BWF World Championships from August 17-23 at New Delhi after a gap of 17 years.

Through initiatives like the Yonex-Sunrise Stringing Workshop Series, Yonex Sunrise India aims to strengthen and uplift India's sporting culture by investing at the grassroots level. The initiative is designed to create opportunities for stringers and technical professionals to enhance their skills, gain exposure to international standards, and contribute meaningfully to the growth of racquet sports in the country.

By nurturing the technical ecosystem behind the sport, Yonex Sunrise India continues to play an active role in further strengthening the future of badminton and racquet sports in India.

Yonex Sunrise India has been actively associated with multiple badminton and tennis initiatives in the country through event support, partnerships, athlete engagement, and technical development programs. The New Delhi workshop marked the first leg of a larger workshop series that will also travel to Mumbai and Bengaluru as part of the effort to strengthen technical expertise and professional stringing standards across India. (ANI)