Himanta's first badminton conclave as BAI President; felicitates shuttlers & coaches with cash prizes
NEWLY APPOINTED Badminton Association of India President Himanta Biswa Sarma has begun his duties. He attended his first badminton conclave with the shuttlers and coaches.
"Our first target is to corner a rich haul of medals in the next Olympic Games in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making the country an Olympic power. We will do everything that is needed to help our supremely talented players and make them champions of the world," he said while addressing the press after the conclave.
He took to Twitter, posting few images from the conclave in which shuttlers Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram, Gurusaidutt, Sai Praneeth, Sumeeth Reddy, Manu Attri, Sikki Reddy, Ashwini Ponnppa, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Jwala Gutta are seen.
Extremely delighted to interact with country's leading badminton players at The Conclave in Delhi, my first as President @BAI_Media. pic.twitter.com/U4h8xsQVP3
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 5, 2017
The event was held in Delhi and it was Himanta's first conclave after being appointed as the President.
He not only met the shuttlers but also the coaches and deliberated on strengthening the sport in India. Among them also present were the international coaches like Handoyo and Tan Kim Her.
Going ahead with the agenda of #Badminton Conclave, I also met top coaches of @BAI_Media to deliberate on strengthening the sport in #India. pic.twitter.com/xYpgIRmKa8
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 5, 2017
He then revealed his vision,
"I have already had one on one sessions with General Secretary – Anup Narang , Coaches and most top players. We discussed at length about the steps that need to be taken to make India a Super Power in badminton. We are in the process of forming a high-powered committee and will share our plan very soon,"
He further added,
"Our players have already brought immense laurels to the country. We are probably the most successful sports associations in India, having won two individual medals at the Olympics and innumerable title across the world. We, as a federation, want more though. We want to set yardsticks for all the other associations when it comes to sport. We want to have state of the art academies in every zone of India so that young boys and girls take to the sport in a big way."
With this goal, Dr Sarma coined a new term to fulfil his dream: 'Let’s Take Badminton to the masses across India'.
Later in the event, he also gave away cash prizes to shuttlers & coaches as a gesture to acknowledge their work in making the sport a success.
Parupalli Kashyap was awarded the highest amount as he received a cheque of Rs. 30 Lakhs, followed by Saina Nehwal who received Rs. 25 Lakhs. P.V Sindhu got richer by Rs. 20 Lakhs, while women’s doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta received Rs. 10 Lakhs each. Kidambi Srikanth bagged Rs. 6 Lakhs and Guru Sai Dutt received Rs. 5 Lakh. P.C Thulasi also received an amount of Rs. 1 Lakh.
Gave away cash prizes to young players & coaches of @BAI_Media who made us all very proud with medals. Highly appreciate their contribution. pic.twitter.com/CDaYbjaOB5
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 5, 2017
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