Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Settling `scores' with hinges

J.R. Shridharan

This scoreboard, the brainchild of an ALC alumnus, has a digital look. But, it operates on door hinges.

GOOD SCORE: Sagar Chowdary with his cricket scoreboard

VIJAYAWADA: There is something unique about the scoreboard at the picturesque Rural Development Trust cricket stadium at Anantapur. The board fixed at the far corner of the stadium drew the attention of cricket lovers and administrators, who had come to watch the Hyderabad-Andhra Ranji encounter. It is elegant and two boys can operate it easily.

From `matches'

Unlike the traditional boards in the domestic circuit, where the number plates are changed with the help of dozens of youngsters, this board works on hinges. And from a distance, it also has the digital effect.

Says 35-year-old Sagar Chowdary, who conceived the idea, "One day I saw a boy at an exhibition making numbers with the help of match sticks. He just removed one stick from here and another from there to form number from 0 to 9. I wanted to use sticks for the board, but getting numbers like 6, 8, 9 were turning out to be difficult".

Later, when the stadium authorities took up the pavilion work, Sagar closely witnessed the carpenters dabbling with the hinges. "They were opening and closing the hinges while fixing the doors. I was curious. I collected good many hinges and started to work on them. I painted inside part of the hinge black and outside yellow. I was able to get all the numbers - 0 to 9 - by closing the hinges".

Sagar started earnestly to execute the project with the help of around 350-odd hinges and could put the two scoreboards into operation in 15 days.

He has also trained many young cricketers on the operation of the board. Next on his agenda is a scoreboard with the names of all the players.

The 35-year-old studied at Vijayawada's Andhra Loyola College and played cricket at the club-level. He now takes care of the cricket stadium at Anantapur.

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