Pune hosts first Badminton tournament for veteran players in Vadgaon Sheri

The first-ever veteran badminton tournament organized by the much-awaited Badminton Masters Players Welfare Association (BMPWA) has officially begun in LSBI Badminton Arena in Pune from January 4 to January 7, 2024.

Speaking to Pune Pulse, Raj Singh, a veteran badminton player & tournament committee member said, “This is the first badminton tournament for veteran players held in Pune. Earlier, no such badminton tournament was held. We were trying a lot to hold such a tournament. A lot of players from several parts of the country like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, and more came together for this.”

Raj Singh further continued, “Every time there is a tournament, you have to pay for food, water, etc. However, in this tournament, everything is free & open for all players. What’s more important is that all the players are very happy.”

As per further information shared by Raj Singh, here are the results of the BMPWA’s Masters Badminton Tournament of January 4:

·        35+ Men’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – Sachidanand Naik, Pramod Kundaji

Ø  Silver – DS Parmar, Himanshu Chowdhary

·        Women’s singles category

Ø  Gold – Uttara Watve

Ø  Silver – Sulbha Apte

·        Women’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – Rajni Dharane, Sonal Priyanka Lakra

·        55+ Women’s singles category

Ø  Gold – Jyoti Somaiah

Ø  Silver – Shrutha Keerthi

·        Women’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – Shrutha Keerthi, Jyoti Somaiah

·        60+ Women’s singles category

Ø  Gold – Kusum Vijayanand

Ø  Silver – Lata Anthony

·        60+ Women’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – V Gowramma

Ø  Silver – Saroja BR

·        65+ Women’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – SL Kanyakumari, Sharada Sampath

Ø  Silver – Saroja BR

·        70+ Women’s doubles category

Ø  Gold – Vijayalakshmi Gudipudi, Sulbha Apte

Players from several states have already begun to arrive in the city, and some are practicing before the tournament at the LSBI Badminton Arena in Vadgaon Sheri, which has been selected as the event’s venue.

This historic tournament, open to men and women players ages 35 to 80, looks like it will be an exciting event with feather shuttles, cash prizes, and T-shirts for participants. Throughout the tournament, free breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided to every player.

The tournament will be held at the LSBI Badminton Arena in Pune and is being organized in remembrance of the late Pradeep Kundaji, the Association’s founder member and architect. The event will have five events per age group, including men singles, women singles, men doubles, women doubles, and mixed doubles for a total of 50 events. The age categories range from 35+ to 80+.

There is a lot of expectation; in the next few days, entries from all over the nation are expected to exceed 1000. The tournament gains prestige from the large number of participants who are national and international champions.

Shreyas Vange