It was raining cash and rewards for Guntur-born badminton sensation Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday. The Andhra Pradesh State government presented a cash award of ₹ 50 lakh and a 1,000 square yard plot in the Amaravati region for his back-to-back super series triumphs in Indonesia and Australia.
At a felicitation held at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu congratulated the shuttler’s efforts and offered him a Group 1 officer post as well.
“He (Srikanth) is now working with Indian Oil Corporation as Assistant Manager. If he is interested in the State government, he can take the offer,” he added.
The Chief Minister recollected his decision to allot the land in Hyderabad for Gopichand, who was keen to float an academy. “On the land I gave Gopi built an academy and nurtured it as one of the best in the world and produced several champion shuttlers like Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, Srikant and Prannoy. I want Srikanth to play for Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Naidu said.
In his thanksgiving speech, Srikanth said: the land which Chief Minister gave to his coach Gopichand helped blossoming of the game in unified Andhra Pradesh. “I always played for Andhra Pradesh and in the future I will play for AP”.
