BIA Chief Inaugurates 41st National Badminton Tournament
Udupi: The six-day-long 41st National Badminton Tournament 2016 was inaugurated in a grand manner at the Indoor stadium Ajjarkad here, on December 12.
The inaugural ceremony began with an invocation, Raghupathi Bhat president of Udupi district Badminton Association welcomed the gathering and urged the Badminton Association of India to announce a Junior Badminton Academy in Udupi district.
President of BAI and Former Union Minister, Akhilesh Das Gupta inaugurated the 41st National Badminton Tournament 2016 by releasing balloons into the air.
Speaking on the occasion Akhilesh Das Gupta said that there are quite a few number of Badminton Academies, however, all the Academies train both juniors and seniors. There is no exclusive Academy for juniors in the country. He added that the Badminton Association of India is embarking upon setting up Badminton Academies in the states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. Akhilesh assured of setting up a Junior Badminton Academy in Udupi district.
The Badminton Association of India has offered Rs 25 lakh and additional Rs five lakh to the Udupi Badminton Association and Akhilesh requested the Association to give away Rs 5 lakh for the ten players who emerge successful in the 41st Junior National level Shuttle Badminton Championship.
Speaking on the occasion Minister of Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports and also district minister in charge Pramod Madhwaraj opined that the central government and all respective governments of the states should give priority for sports as sports have been neglected.
T Gautham Pai MD Manipal Technologies Limited inaugurated the Cultural programme. Oscar Fernandes member of Rajya Sabha and former union minister, Abhayachandra Jain former minister and MLA Moodbidri also spoke on the occasion.
Kishore Alva, Adani Group, B P Singh, Srinivas President KBA, Mohanlal, Vijay Saraswat, MA Gafoor, Ravindra, Yashpal Suvarna, Udaykumar Shetty and others were present.