2016 will go down as not so an eventful year for the sports fraternity as nothing worthwhile happened both in performance and infrastructure. The State and the city did not witness the expected surge in sports and no notable infrastructure came up to cater to the needs of the players.
The 31-month-old State, still coping up with the teething troubles of bifurcation, saw sports taking the backseat.
The much-expected sports policy did not take shape and remained in draft stage owing to the differences among the stakeholders. The dispute between the two warring groups claiming legitimacy over the Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association (APOA) took a heavy toll on sports activities. However, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu finally put a stop to the bickering on the Christmas Day, by recognising the Galla Jaydev faction and authorising it to stake claim to host National Games.
A major decision taken was the shifting of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) office from Hyderabad to Vijayawada to streamline the activities. Sports Minister Atchannaidu and SAAP chairman P.R. Mohan occupying their new chambers at the temporary Secretariat (Velagapudi) and Vijayawada respectively came as an indicator for brighter days ahead.
The year did not witness big international or national events and barring events like the National table tennis (Vizag), National junior chess (Rajamahendravaram), National inter-district athletics (Vizag) and National sub junior badminton (Vijayawada), nothing significant was staged.
The laying of the 400-m synthetic track at the Acharya Nagarjuna University was a positive sign as it would propel athletic activities in a big way in the years to come.
Cricket hogs limelight
However, it was cricket which hogged the limelight as the State hosted the first-ever Test match in Vizag against England, a one-day international (New Zealand) and a T-20 fixture (Sri Lanka).
The city reacted to badminton star P.V. Sindhu’s silver medal feat at Rio Olympics in a befitting manner by honouring her along with her coach Pullela Gopichand and Guntur shuttler Kidambi Srikanth. Chittoor’s Etimarpu Rajini brought fame to hockey when she was selected as second goal keeper to the Indian hockey team to Rio Olympics.
The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has become the most-sought-after unit by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as it hosted seven Ranji matches — three in Vizianagram and four in Vizag, thanks to the neutral venues concept.
Mulapadu near Vijayawada acquired the international status by hosting One-Day International and T-20 series against West Indies women’s team.
The selection of Guntur-born former India international M.S.K. Prasad as chairman of the Senior Selection Committee of the BCCI came as a shot in the arm to the cricketing fraternity and S. Meghana earning India cap at Mulapadu was the icing on the cake.
Y. Shiva Kumar (56kg), who was trained at the ANU weightlifting centre in Guntur, brought smiles on the faces of his coaches and administrators when he won a silver in the World University Weightlifting event in Mexico. Compound archer Jyothi Surekha won five internationl medals including a team gold in the World Universities meet in Mongolia.
* Highlights
** M.S.K. Prasad’s selection as chairman of the Senior Selection Committee of BCCI
**S. Meghana earning India cap at Mulapadu
**Weightlifter Shiva Kumar winning silver at World Universities meet in Mexico
**Etimarpu Rajini’s selection as goal keeper of hockey women’s team to Rio
** Laying of 400-m synthetic athletic track at ANU
** Archer Jyothi Surekha clinching team gold in World Universities meet in Mongolia.
