Teams from 25 states take part in national badminton tourney

Vijayawada: School education commissioner S Suresh Kumar, MLC Kalpalata Reddy, tournament national observer Raju Rana, convener C Siva Satyanarayana Reddy inaugurated the 67th school games (Under-19) national badminton tournament at PB Siddhartha Arts and Science College here on Tuesday.

The teams from 25 states and eight union territories participated in the march past before the inauguration of the tournament.

Addressing the students, school education commissioner Suresh Kumar said that the tournament is the right place for the students to show their talent. He recalled that the renowned players like Pullela Gopichand, Naina Sehwal, PV Sindhu brought name and fame to the country with their prowess. MLC Kalpalata Reddy said that the state government has been giving priority to the sports along with education. The state government is conducting sports festival in the name of Aadudam Andhra from December 15 across the state, she said. AP Schools Games Federation secretary said that the Indian School Games Federation has given opportunity to Andhra Pradesh to conduct three national tournaments. In addition to the present Under-19 badminton tournament in Vijayawada, Under-19 Tennis tournament at Kakinada and Under-14 girls Kabaddi tournament at Rajampet would be conducted soon. He thanked the Siddhartha Academy management for their cooperation to conduct the tournament.

Tournament convener C Siva Satyanarayana Reddy, organising secretary V Ravikant, School Games Federation assistant secretary KV Radhakrishna, Siddhartha Junior college principal Ch Venkateswarlu and others also participated.