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World championships to be held as scheduled

WFB suggested improved measures on the security front

HYDERABAD: The World badminton championship will be held as scheduled from August 10 to 16 at Swarnandhra Pradesh Indoor Stadium (Gachibowli) here, according to K.Ch. Punnaiah Choudhary, joint-secretary of Badminton Association of India.

Mr. Choudhary said that the Badminton World Federation had sent a 20-page note a couple of weeks ago with suggestions for improved measures on the security front.

“The officials of the security agency from Australia made a thorough inspection of the measures which were in force during the recent India Open Gold Grand Prix and they expressed complete satisfaction with the same.

They also made some additional suggestions for improvement which I am not keen to disclose at the present moment,” he said.

National coach Pullela Gopi Chand, who is also the coordinator for the mega event, said there were no worries on the security front. “As far as I know, the event is on, and there is no doubt about it at all,” he said.

“Even the communication which BAI received was more of a formality. Having successfully organised the India Open, we have demonstrated our organisational capabilities and we are gearing up to meet the challenge for what is arguably the biggest ever sporting event in any single discipline,” he added.

Gopi also revealed that the BAI president V.K. Verma will be in Hyderabad for detailed discussions with regard to the conduct of the World Championship on Friday before going to attend the BWF meeting.

“Some important decisions will be taken including pricing of tickets for spectators, and accommodation and transport facilities for the participants,” he added. “We are confident of hosting the prestigious event in a grand and befitting manner,” Gopi said. — Principal Correspondent

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