Security consultants of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) who inspected the venue in the southern city of Hyderabad in February have given the clearance, Badminton Association of India joint secretary Punnaiah Choudhary said.

 

The BWF gave the clearance after the security report was presented to its Executive Board last month, he said.

 

The Championships are scheduled from August 10 to 16.

 

They had originally been due to be held in New Delhi but officials were forced to switch it last September because the facilities would not be ready in time.

 

Security in the sub-continent has been called into question following the ambush of the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore, Pakistan last month, killing seven Pakistanis and wounding six players.

 

The incident triggered concerns sport could become a target for more attacks in South Asia.

 

India also remains nervous after Islamist militants killed 166 people in a strike on Mumbai in November.

 

Hyderabad staged an incident-free India Open badminton last month where former world and 2004 Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and French world number four Pi Hongyan won the men's and women's titles respectively.

 

However, security concerns of playing in India remain.

 

Tennis Australia has requested the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to switch the May 8-10 Asia-Oceania zonal Davis Cup tie scheduled in Chennai out of India over security concerns.

 

The ITF is expected to announce its decision tomorrow.

 

The Australian Commonwealth Games Association has also raised concerns over sending the contingent to next year's Games in New Delhi in the wake of the attack in Lahore.