The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Tatas to sponsor Prakash Padukone Academy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2007
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Tatas to sponsor Prakash Padukone Academy

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Tata Sons and Tata Motor Finance will be the main sponsors of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, according to Prakash Padukone.

He said here on Tuesday that the Tatas and PPBA had signed an eight-month sponsorship agreement in December 2006.

The sponsorship amount will cover all expenses of the academy, including its lease for the five courts from the Karnataka Badminton Association and four courts from the Pune District & Metropolitan Badminton Association for the Pune centre, day-to-day expenses, and participation of the academy players in international tournaments and camps.

The academy will henceforth be named "Tata Padukone Badminton Academy."

Pleased with backing

Commenting on the association of the Tata Group, Padukone said: "We are pleased to have the backing of the Tatas who have a long association with sports. It should help us to revive all our major initiatives, including conducting tournaments and sending our wards for training abroad."

The academy plans to continue its association with foreign coaching centres on a reciprocal basis. Morten Frost, who has a centre in Aarhus (Denmark), and Tom John in England have expressed interest in hosting the Indian players and sending their players to Bangalore.

Four of England's top singles players, including Aamir Ghaffar and Nicholas Kidd, are likely to spend four to six weeks in June-July this year at the academy.

Several of the academy's players have achieved distinction at the national and international levels.

Anup Sridhar, Aravind Bhat, Anand Pawar and Trupti Murgunde are regulars on the international senior circuit while juniors like Ajay Jayaram, Sagar Chopda and Aditi Mutatkar have also represented the country in international events, and are knocking on the doors of the senior team.

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