Patna: Bihar got the honour of being the runner-up in the doubles girls category on the fifth and final day of the 68th Junior National Ball Badminton Championship organised by the Bihar Ball Badminton Association at Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankarbagh, here on Thursday.
The doubles team included the pair of Kajal Kumari, Annu Kumari and Muskan Kumari. Bihar got the bronze medal in the boys doubles event. The pair of Ashish Kumar, Shashikant and Chhotu Kumar were included in the team.
In the final match of the fives event in the boys category, Andhra Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu and won the title, while in the final match of the girls category, Tamil Nadu defeated Andhra Pradesh and won the title. In the boys category, Karnataka and Maharashtra jointly got the third position, and in the girls category, Karnataka and Kerala jointly got the third position.
In the final match of the boys doubles event, the Andhra Pradesh pair defeated the Tamil Nadu pair, and in the girls category final match, Tamil Nadu defeated Bihar and got the honour of being the winner. In the boys doubles category, Bihar and Puducherry jointly got the bronze medal, and in the girls doubles category, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh jointly got the bronze medal.
In the final match of the mixed doubles event, Tamil Nadu defeated Andhra Pradesh and captured the title. Telangana and Maharashtra jointly got the bronze medal. The “Best Upcoming Players Award” of the championship was given in the boys category to Santu Maharaj of Bihar and in the girls category to Kajal Kumari of Bihar.
After the final match, prizes were distributed among the players by Vijay Kumar Sinha, Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Bihar. Addressing the players, he said that sports is an important means of mutual brotherhood. The government will offer all assistance possible to spread the popularity of ball badminton. Presiding over the function, Ball Badminton Federation of India President-cum-Bihar Legislative Council Member Prof. Nawal Kishore Yadav said that the teams of all 26 states participating in the National Championship participated with discipline and made the event memorable for Bihar.
Special guest and social worker Padmashree Dr. Vimal Jain, while addressing the players and officials, inspired the coaches and managers of different states to develop the game of ball badminton at the international level and for organ donation. A souvenir was also released on the occasion. Ball Badminton Federation of India General Secretary Y. Raja Rao presented the report of the Ball Badminton game. The guests were welcomed by Gouri Shankar, Secretary of Bihar Ball Badminton Association, and the vote of thanks was given by Patna District Secretary Dr. Arun Dayal. Deepak Singh Kashyap was in charge of organizing the stage.
On this occasion, Karmaveer Singh Yadav, alias Lallu Mukhiya, association Vice President Mithilesh Mandal, Krishna Rungta, Dr. Musarrat Jahan, Joint Secretary Mitali Mitra, Anamika Paswan, Ranjan Gupta, Rakesh Ranjan, Deepak Prakash Ranjan, Neha Rani, Sushma Kumari, Vicky Prakash, Satish Kumar, Rahul Kumar, coach Mohan Rao Kodi, Shiv Narayan Pal, Dr. Santosh Srivastava, Raj Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, Santosh Sharma, Umesh Kumar, secretaries-presidents of various states, and many eminent sports lovers were present.
