A State-level table tennis academy will be established at the sports complex that is getting ready at Kommadi in the city limits, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced after inaugurating the South Zone National ranking table tennis tournament at Port indoor stadium here on Thursday.
Visakhapatnam has hosted international events like International Fleet Review, BRICS summit and partnership summit in the recent past and it should host a National or international sports event every year, Mr. Naidu said.
He also handed over a cheque for Rs. 10 lakh to the Visakhapatnam District Table Tennis Association on behalf of the Sports Authority of AP for conducting the National ranking tournament.
He played table tennis with Manika Batra to mark the commencement of the tournament. MLC and president of VDTTA M.V.S. Sarma presided.
Sports Minister K. Atchennaidu said the State government has allotted Rs. 200 crore for development of sports and would provide basic sports infrastructure in all the 13 districts. Playgrounds in four cities would be developed into major stadiums under PPP mode.
Ministers Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu and Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Chairperson of Zilla Praja Parishad Lalam Bhavani, MP M. Srinivasa Rao, MLCs M.V.V.S. Murthi and Gade Srinivasulu Naidu, MLAs P. Vishnukumar Raju, Palla Srinivas, V. Ganesh Kumar, Kidari Sarveswara Rao, president of Table Tennis Federation of India Prakash P. Chaturvedi, president of AP Table Tennis Association V. Bhaskara Ram, secretary S.M. Sultan, secretary of VDTTA D.Y.S.Y. Sharma and others participated. The tournament ends on Oct. 25.
