The Hindu : SAAP academy likely to be moved to new venue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Badminton

SAAP academy likely to be moved to new venue

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD JUNE 30. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh badminton academy, now functioning at the Dandamudi Rajagopala Rao Indoor Stadium here is likely to be shifted to the Patamata Indoor Stadium, according to K.Ch. Punnaiah Chowdary, secretary of the AP State Badminton Association.

In an informal chat with The Hindu, Mr. Chowdary said that the APSBA had submitted the relevant papers to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation for shifting of the Academy as the new venue could accommodate seven courts instead of the cramped indoor venue at present.

"In view of the growing popularity of the sport the Sports Authority of India is keen to extend full support and we felt the Patamata stadium would be a better choice,'' he said. "Two new hova courts are also being procured for the Academy,'' he added.

Currently seven international players including Chetan Anand are training under U. Bhaskar Babu of Sports Authority of India. And interestingly, all seven of them are engineering students, which the officials say points to the emphasis being laid on studies too.

2003-2004 Calendar

The APSBA secretary also released the State calendar for the year 2003-2004 which included two Major ranking tournaments for men and women in Tirupati (July 17 to 19) and in Bhimavaram from August 1.

The other events scheduled are as follows: Junior State championship for boys and girls (under-19) at Nandyal from August 8 to 10; Senior State championship in Medak from August 22 to 24, Sub-junior State championship for boys and girls (under-16) in Srikakulam (September 26 to 28), Mini and Sub-junior State championship in Chirala from September 5 to 7 and Veterans State meet for 45 years & above in Amalapuram (December 27 to 29).

Mr. Chowdary, who is also the joint secretary of the Badminton Association of India, announced that the South Zone championship would be held in Pondicherry from September 12 to 14.

The list of the other national events for the 2003-2004 year is: All India junior ranking prize money championship in Mumbai from July 21 to 26, Rs. 2 lakh prize money Canara Bank Senior ranking tournament in Bangalore from August 13 to 16, Chipalkalli memorial junior tournament in Pune (Sept. 2 to 7), all-India junior ranking tournament in Bangalore (Sept. 18 to 21), Rs. 2 lakh all-India junior major ranking tournament in Mumbai (Aug. 25 to 30), Sub-junior nationals for under-13 and under-16 years in Kozhikode (Oct. 10 to 16), all-India junior major ranking tournament in Panchkula (Oct. 28 to Dec. 1), Rs. 4 lakh prize money national tournament for seniors in Surat (Dec. 2 to 7), Rs. 8 lakh prize money tournament for men and women in Lucknow (Dec. 8 to 13), Senior nationals in Bangalore (Dec. 29 to Jan. 5), Veterans nationals in Tirupati (Jan. 21 to 24) and the all-India junior major ranking tournament for boys and girls (under-19) in Khammam (Jan. 15 to 18, 2004).

Mr. Chowdary also released the list of players, who are eligible for the main draw in the AP State Major tournament in Tirupati and Bhimavaram in July-August this year.

Men: S.D.S. Krishna, K. Srinivasan, Muralikrishna, P. Sunil, A. Pridhvi, T. Dinesh, Jayan James, N.N. Vinayak, P. Kashyap, B. Kiran Kumar and P.L. Narayana.

Women: Swetha, Saina Nehwal, B. Srilakshmi, Deepthi Shalini, Deeopthi Priyadarshini, Sharada Govardhani, T. Sowmya and Cynthia.

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