Visakhapatnam, Nov 7 (IANS): Badminton star P.V. Sindhu performed the Bhumi puja for her badminton academy here on Thursday.

Accompanied by her parents, the Olympic silver medallist participated in the rituals conducted by priests in the Thotaguru area.

The academy is coming up on two acres of land allotted by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2021.

Sindhu, who is the only Indian to become the badminton world champion, said the construction work would start soon and hoped that the academy would be ready within a year.

The 29-year-old said that training youngsters and grooming them for top-level competitions will be her aim through this academy.

She said the number of players to be trained and other details of the training programmes will be announced soon.

In September 2019, Sindhu, soon after winning her maiden BWF World Championships gold, had made a request to then Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to issue her land to set up a badminton academy in Visakhapatnam. Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to look into her request.

In 2021, the government transferred two out of three acres of land belonging to the Department of Animal Husbandry in Chinagadili under the Visakhapatnam Rural area to the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs. The remaining one acre was allotted to the Department of Medical Health by the Department of Revenue. Later the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs allotted two acres to Sindhu to set up a badminton academy and sports school.

While thanking the Chief Minister for allotting the land, Sindhu had said that she is determined to develop sports in Andhra Pradesh.

"There is no badminton academy in Visakhapatnam, so it was decided to set up an academy with the highest level of infrastructure there. We will build the academy in the first phase. The next step is the proposal to set up a sports school. I'm still playing. Will take on training responsibilities at the academy after retiring from the game," she had said.