Sub-junior badminton tournament begins

Kadapa: Badminton star and India’s chief national coach Pullela Gopichand has inaugurated the five-day 32nd sub-junior national badminton championships-2018 at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

The tourney is being jointly organised by Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association (APBA), Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Kadapa District Badminton Association (KDBA). The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) is acting as main sponsor. About 300 badminton players and 50 coaches from 29 states are participating in the competition.

Addressing the gathering, Gopichand said that he had cancelled his trip to Bengaluru and attended the inaugural programme to encourage budding players. He gave a call to them to play with sportive spirit without giving priority to victory or defeat. He lauded the district administration for making elaborate arrangements for the national-level event. 

District Collector Ch Harikiran said 72 courts were set up in the stadium for badminton tourney and made all arrangements for the contest. He urged badminton players to visit historical places in the district. APBA Vice-President K Srinivasan, Joint Secretaries M Rajasekhar and V Srinivasa Bhat, Joint Collector-2 Siva Reddy and others were present.