Kakani asks students to actively take part in sports

Nellore: Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has called upon the students to actively participate in the sports and games. Addressing the gathering at Akshara Vidyalaya school in Venkatachalam on Monday in connection with the concluding ceremony of CBSE cluster 7 basketball tournament 2022-23, the minister said interest in sports has gradually been decreasing due to hectic curriculum-based activities and asked the students to develop a passion for extracurricular activities. Not only general knowledge, he said the teachers should also ignite interest in sports and games and appreciated the school management for organising the event in a grand manner.

Stating that Swarna Bharat Trust was organising numerous services in the region, he said many corporate schools located in apartments were lacked even playgrounds. He said diabetes, hypertension and other severe diseases were affecting youngsters due to the lack of physical exercise. He said even highly paid software engineers and others were prone to serious ailments as they are focusing on packages rather than fitness.

80 boys' teams and 39 girls' teams from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana participated in the CBSE sports. The Under 19 boys' trophy was won by Chirec International School, Hyderabad and the Girls' trophy was won by Delhi Public School, Khajaguda. The Minister handed over trophies to the winners during the programme. The matches were conducted from December 3 to 5 at the school premises.

40 Knockout matches were conducted on the first day and second-round and quarterfinal matches were conducted on the second day. The best teams competed fiercely on the third day on Monday.

Chief coach, DSP, Yatiraj, basketball coach S Srinivas Rao, CBSE observer Vijender, District Basketball Association secretary G Srinivasulu, senior principal Kumuda, coordinator Ch Janardhan Raju, students and others were present.