New sports policy soon in Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA: The government of Andhra Pradesh will unveil its new sports policy in two weeks, said Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh vice-chairman and managing director N. Bangara Raju on Wednesday. He said high-level deliberations have taken place to finalise the new sports policy.

The new sports policy was prepared with a motto to take the sports to the village level, said Mr Bangara Raju. Along with the district-level stadiums, 50 mandal-level stadiums are going to be constructed. SAAP will depute coaches to all stadiums to train students in various disciplines of sport, he said.

“We are planning to construct a stadium in every constituency of the state in the next 18 months,” he added. Mr Banagara Raju further said that the state government has allotted 1,200 acres of land in Amaravati to develop sports in a big way that includes world class infrastructure for all sports. “We will also send the players from Andhra Pradesh who do well at the national level to foreign countries for better coaching,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 30th Sub-junior National Badminton Champion-ship is to start here on Thursday. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will formally inaugurate the championship in the evening.

Players from all over the country will take part in the championship. The championship will be conducted in Under–13 and Under-5 categories for boys and girls separately.

Around 280 boys and 265 girls will participate in singles and doubles events.
The Krishna District Badminton Association will host the championship. Giving out the details of the tournament, SAAP chairman Mr Bangara Raju said that elaborate arrangements have been made for the championship which is being conducted for the first time at Vijayawada.

The matches will be held at DRMC indoor stadium, SDM Siddartha Women’s College and Vijayawada Club, he said. The championship will conclude on December 5. DPS World School at Kaza in Amaravati will act as the title sponsor for the championship.