Rs.1.5 cr facelift for DRMC Indoor Stadium

The women’s qualifying rounds for the 79th National Senior Badminton Championship will be held at Funtimes Club. Vijayawada Club will be the venue for the men’s qualifying rounds. The 79th National Senior Badminton Championship will be inaugurated at Dandamudi Rajagopal Rao Municipal Corporation (DRMC) Indoor Stadium on January 29.

Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association president Punnaiah Chowdary said that the State government has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for renovation of the indoor stadium for the national championship, which is being held in Vijayawada after a gap of 36 years.

“The tournament will help bring the badminton talent in the State under one roof. The interstate round will be held on January 31 and February 1. The open nationals will be held from February 2-5. About 175 players will take part in the interstate round and 450 in the open nationals. We are yet to finalise the singles entries of the players. PV Sindhu, Aswini Ponappa, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Jwala Gutta and other top players will participate in the championship,” he said.

Championship organising secretary Ankamma Chowdary said that Mayor Koneru Sridhar would inaugurate the tournament along with MLA Gadde Ramamohan and Municipal Commissioner G Veerapandian. Tournament manager and international referee K Pani Rao, Krishna District Badminton Association joint secretary Dr E Trimurthy, Funtimes Club secretary Dr Ajith Babu and others were present.