Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Dec 13: The 41st National Badminton Championship 2016 was inaugurated by Dr Akhilesh Das Guptha, president, BAI and former minister at district indoor stadium, Ajjarkad, Udupi on Monday, December 12. T Gautham Pai, Managing director, Manipal Technology Limited inaugurated the cultural session.
The sports event is being organized by Udupi district badminton association in collaboration with Manipal University. Akhilesh Guptha said that people of Udupi greeted him with all respect and he was overwhelmed.
“Except Nagaland, all the states in the country are represented here. After seeing this event, cheer and happiness on the face of players, I feel that Udupi will create another history. Udupi has given a proud badminton champion like Prakash Padukone. May such national level sports players come up in the future”, he said.
Guptha released Rs 25 lac for organizing this event and handed over Rs 5 lac cheque to UDBAU on stage as additional fund. He expected of representing and winning Gold in 2020 Olympics.
Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes who was present on the occasion said that Udupi is known for its historical background and the fragrance of the district is spread all over the world. “As Prakash Padukone hails from Udupi, every child has started asking why cannot he or she become a champion in Badminton,” he said. He wished the best of luck to the players.
V P Singh, Vice president of Sports Authority of India addressing the gathering, said that if players put their hearts in the game, the relationship between the states would develop into a strong bonding. “So we can achieve unity and integrity of the nation”, he said.
State Minister of Fisheries, Youth affairs and sports, Pramod Madhwaraj said that there is less priority given for sports in the country since long years. “The reason being given is lack of funds for supporting sports and infrastructure. Therefore, winning championships in the world have always remained a distant dream”, he said.
Stressing the importance of sports, District in charge minister said that It is necessary for Government of India and respective State governments to wake up to ensure that sports is given due importance by supporting sports personalities not only in government but also in institutions. “NGOs should come together for support”, he said.
Minister Pramod informed that, he recommends to the State government to release Rs 25 lacs immediately to facilitate required infrastructure for Ajjarkad badminton court. “The state has sanctioned Rs 30 lacs not only for Udupi but also for five of its constituencies”, he said.
He also said as minister of sports, he is happy to organize national badminton championships at his hometown constituency. Pramod paid tribute to Prakash Kadavoor, who was active general secretary of UDBAU.
National players and guests were carried in open vehicles of their respective states. Oscar Fernandes flagged off a colourful procession which included more than 30 attractive tableaus. The procession included Poothani dance by Ranjith Karkala, Maragalu Kunitha, Puppets, Halakki dance from Honnavar folk team, Lambani dance, Dollu Kunitha a band set invited from Chitradurga and others.
Air India team crowned inter state championship with Rs 80,000 and Karnataka team bagged runner up prize with Rs 60,000. Nearly 30 states teams took part in the national junior Badminton championship and more than 600 players participated in this event.
Abhaychandra Jain, MLA, Moodbidri, H S Ballal, Pro chancellor, Manipal university, Kishore Alva, president, Adani group, Yashpal Suvarna, president Dakshina Kannada and Udupi fish marketing, N C Sudhir, joint secretary, BAI, Narasimha Murthy, president, Town planning authority Udupi, Udaykumar Shetty and others were present.