Gopichand to lead AP's challenge

GUDIVADA, SEPT. 16. All England champion P. Gopichand will lead the Andhra Pradesh teams for the badminton events of the National Games at the Hansraj Stadium, Jalandhar, Punjab from November 20 to 24.

Announcing the various squads at a press conference, K. Punnaiah Chowdary, Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association said the men's squad consisted of no less than five internationals and the women's, four.

The provisional dates for the junior Nationals at Bhopal are December 4 to 10, while the senior Nationals at Lucknow will be held as scheduled from December 21 to 27.

He hailed the just-concluded State sub-junior and mini championships as the best conducted event in the state calendar so far, for which he complimented the NTR stadium committee.

Dr. Gangadhar Rao, General Secretary, Organising Committee, said that it was a race against time to complete the indoor stadium so that it would be ready for this meet. He hoped good use would be made in future of the facilities available therein.

M. Veerabhadra Rao, Organising Secretary, said that a deep-rooted desire to see players from this region making an impact at the national level, was taking shape. He thanked the Gudivada Club for staging the girls' events.

The teams:

For the National Games:

Men: P. Gopichand (captain), Chetan Anand, A. Prudhvi, SDS Krishna, P. Sunil Chowdary, K. Srinivasan, B. Nagaraj.

Women: P.V.V. Laxmi, K. Neelima Chowdary, G. Jwala, Shruthi S. Kurien.

Standbyes: Sreeshail Malge (men) and D. Swetha (women). Coach: S.M. Arif (National Chief Coach) and Asst. Coach: P.U. Bhaskar Babu. Manager: Y. Rama Mohan Rao.

For South Zone championships (at Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium on September 27, 28):

Men: B. Nagaraj (captain), K. Srinivasan, Murali Krishna, Rajendra Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Sreeshail Malge.

Women: Neelima Chowdary and D. Swetha.

Junior boys: T. Dinesh, V. Vikas Reddy, Ravi Shankar, SDS Krishna. Girls: Sarada Govardhini, Deepti Priyadarshini, Deepthi Shalini. Coach: Mir Mehboob Ali. Asst. Coach: B. Sudhakar Reddy. Manager: T. Narayan Reddy.

The teams leave Vijayawada by the Kerala Express on September 25. There will be three officials also from Andhra Pradesh, viz; the Chief Referee, PCS Rao, assisted by Pani Rao and J. Ankamma Chowdary.

For Sub-junior and mini Nationals (at Ooty from October 30 to November 5):

Boys: Sub-juniors: T. Dinesh Kumar, B. Kiran Kumar. Mini: N. Srujan and N. Arun.

Girls: Sub-juniors: Sarada Govardhini, Saina Nehwal, Deepthi Shalini, Sowmya. Mini: Saina Nehwal, I. Sravanthi, P. Jyotsna. Coach: Usha Rani and Asst. Coach: Neetu.

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