Pullela family lauds badminton facilities

It turned out to be a tough assignment, in terms of sponsorship support, for the Coimbatore Badminton Association (CBA) in hosting the all India sub-junior ranking badminton tournament which concluded at the Bharathiar University indoor stadium courts here recently. But the CBA was pretty pleased as former national badminton champion P.V.V. Lakshmi lauded its efforts in handling a tournament of this magnitude and the excellent facility made available to the players and the officials.

Lakshmi, wife of former all England champion and Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, has travelled the length and breadth of country as a player and parent for some years now. So, obviously she knows best what each State has in store for the players in tournaments big or small.

“Everything has been nicely done here. I am really happy with the facility,” she said. And for Lakshmi, the city brought her more joy and luck as Gayatri Gopichand, her 13-year-old daughter, walked away with a double title in the under-15 section.

Gopichand’s mother Subbaravamma Pullela, who had also come to see her grand-daughter lock horns with some of the best in the sub-junior field, said it was her first visit to this part of the region. “The atmosphere is so pleasant and so are the people. I am surprised that there is such a lovely facility available here.”

Both Lakshmi and Gayatri wished good luck to the CBA team and requested that it conducts more such tournaments in the future. Most of the parents and the officials shared similar views. “We did have some teething problems at the start but we managed to iron them out quite soon,” said S. Mutharasu, the CBA President.

“We did get good support from quite a few people in conducting the tournament. We thank each one of our sponsors and all those who stood with us. Suki Badminton Academy (Vadavalli) was also kind enough to share their courts. Certain matches had to be moved out to complete the schedule. It was a timely help by them,” said Swetha Krishnamurthy, the CBA Secretary.

The CBA made it a point to give cash awards and trophies to the top performers in the tournament. It also gave away cash awards to the youngsters from Coimbatore and nearby regions such as Winnona, Shankar Muthuswamy, Kaushik, Nardhana and Nidhin, to name a few, for their fine performances at the national and international level.