The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Players, parents, support staff honoured

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Sunday, Jan 17, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Players, parents, support staff honoured

V V Subrahmanyam

Warm gesture by Global sports association and table tennis association

Proud winners: AP Table Tennis Association felicitating medallists from the State in table tennis nationals.

HYDERABAD: It was a touching start to the New Year, not just in terms of winning national titles, but by way of recognising the services of the support staff, the parents and also the players themselves who had to fight an indifferent system not long ago.

Not many at the Fateh Maidan indoor stadium were aware of a small piece of history created by Dronacharya S.M. Arif. Now, he has the rare distinction of seeing his wards pick 200th national title (in different age groups over the last three decades). Fittingly,

Global Sports & Cultural Association, put up a felicitation function for the big guns of Indian badminton – Chetan Anand, Gutta Jwala and Ashwini Ponappa (for winning Senior national titles in Guwahati last week), besides honouring future champions like Rohit Yadav and Rahul Yadav at this august venue, which is almost like a second ‘home’ for the tried and trusted coach.

Mr. Arif, in all humility, called upon his trusted deputy Goverdhan Reddy, SAAP coach, to be feted on the occasion by K. Durga Prasad, IPS and president of AP Badminton Association. Not surprisingly, the joy of the shuttlers and the ‘regulars’ at the venue knew no bounds.

The story was no different at AWASA Academy (Khairatabad) where the medallists from the State in table tennis Nationals were honoured by AP Table Tennis Association. The young guns included the AP sub-junior girls team of K. Spoorthy, Akshi Sancheti, T.L. Harshita and Saira Banu, who won the team gold in the recent Sub-junior Nationals (the first time the State had won in the history of the Nationals),

A. Sreeja, cadet girls bronze medallist in the same Nationals and Nikhat Banu, silver medallist in the 71st Junior national table tennis in Raipur.

The beaming face of the only Arjuna Awardee in table tennis from the State, Mir Khasim Ali, was perhaps an apt reflection of the mood of the function and the great hope these youngsters evoked by their feats. And, when V. Radha, VC & MD of SAAP, made it a point to call on to the dias, mother of Nikhat and father of Shubham Sharma, it was another gesture reminding the contribution of dedicated parents -- a message with the intent that sports and academics can go together.

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