Patna: Naugachia beat defending champions Police Academy Patna by 35-30, 35-31 to win the men’s title of Ramdevan Rai-Dilip Rai Memorial 29th Bihar State Senior Ball Badminton Championship being played at Kushwaha Ashram in Hajipur on Friday.
In the women’s final, reigning champions Vaishali defeated last year’s runners-up Saran 35-21,35-33 to win the women’s title for the seventh time. International players Rahul Kumar, Ankit Sharma, Mukul Kumar, Suraj Kumar, Aman Kumar from Naugachia and national players Badal Kumar, Deepak Prakash Ranjan, Sudhanshu from Police Academy performed well in the men’s final.
In the women’s final, international players Priya Singh, Vandana Kumari, Kavita Kumari, Priyanka, Nidhi from Vaishali and Khushbu, Sakshi, Neha from Saran performed brilliantly. Begusarai and Patna got joint third place in the men’s category while Begusarai and Siwan got joint third place in the women’s category.
Best player award in men’s category went to Rahul Kumar of Naugachia and in women’s category to Priya Singh of Vaishali. Earlier, in the first semi-final of the men’s section, Police Academy beat Patna 37-35,35-25, Navgachia beat Begusarai 35-33,35-27 and in the first semi-final of the women’s section, Vaishali beat Begusarai 35-26. ,35-19 and Saran defeated Siwan 33-35,35-30,35-33.
Bihar Information and Technology Minister Israel Mansuri and Bihar Legislative Council Member-cum- President of Bihar State Ball Badminton Association Prof Nawal Kishore Yadav gave away the prizes. Addressing the gathering Information and Technology Minister Israel Mansoori said that playing sports keeps both mind and brain healthy. Appreciating the game of ball badminton, he said that I will try to help by participating in such events again and again.
Bihar Legislative Council member Prof Nawal Kishore Yadav said that Ball Badminton Association conducts programs according to its annual calendar. Our players are getting medals in national tournament as well. But our sports and players are being ignored by the state government. We are determined to provide all the resources to our players, he said.
Presiding over the ceremony, Organising Chairman-cum-MLA Mukesh Roshan said that state tournament boosts the morale of the players. There is a need to keep rewarding sports and players., he said.
The guests were welcomed by Kishalaya Kishore, President of Grappling Wrestling Committee Bihar and Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Secretary of Vaishali District Ball Badminton Association. Gouri Shankar, Secretary of Bihar State Ball Badminton Association, proposed a vote of thanks.
