Warangal: The three-day district badminton championship for boys, girls, men and women got underway at the Indore stadium, KITS, Warangal, here on Wednesday. The tourney is being organised jointly by Warangal District Badminton Association (WDBA), affiliated to Badminton Association of Telangana (BAT), and Department of Physical Education, Kakatiya Institute of Technology & Science (KITS), Warangal. The tourney was inaugurated jointly by Warangal Club secretary E Premsagar Reddy, WDBA president Dr S Ramesh Kumar, general secretary Dr P Ramesh Reddy and treasurer D Nagakishan.

E Premsagar Reddy said that as Warangal district has full-fledged facilities for playing badminton, it's up to youth to make full use of it and excel at national-level. "To be a champion, you must believe in yourself. Instead of worrying about winning or losing, players should focus on developing their skills," he said. WDBA president Dr S Ramesh Kumar told the youth to maintain their physical fitness levels on par with the best in the game.

Prof P Ramesh Reddy, WDBA secretary, and HOD Physical Education, KITS, Warangal, said that 290 players, grouped in five categories, U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19, men and women, singles and doubles, are taking part in the tourney. "We used latest badminton tournament software to pick the draws," he said.

Results on first day of the tourney: Boys singles U-13: K Srikanth (Tejaswi) beat Sri Chaten (SS School) 30-28; V Sathwik beat K Aravind 30-23. Girls singles U-13: T Hasini (Aryabatta) beat Sathwika (JNS) 30-24. Boys doubles U-13: Charan + Hemanth (Jangaon) beat K Srikanth + Sri Chaten (Tejaswi) 30-24; Mokshith + Shreyas beat M Charan Tej + M Sri Harsha 30-22. Boys singles U-15: P Moulik beat R Aslesh 30-28; Charan (Jangaon) beat A Mourya (Aryabatta) 30-21. Girls singles U-15: Ashritha beat Srinika 30-18. Boys doubles U-15: Asim + K.Thula Sainath beat A Mourya (Aryabatta) + B Pavan (Tejaswi) 30-24. Boys singles U-17: V Sai Sharath (JNS) beat Yogesh Reddy (St. Peters) 30-29. Boys doubles U-17: Abubaker Siddiq + Vineeth Kumar (GWMC) beat Harish Kumar (JNS) + Rohit (JNS) 30-20.