Our Correspondent
Imphal, July 19 (EMN): Manipur is all set to host the Yonex Sunrise All India Sub-Junior (U-15 and U-17) ranking badminton tournament at the Indoor stadium of Khuman Lampak Sports complex in Imphal from July 21 to 27.
Informing this during a press conference here on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar who is the president of Manipur Badminton Association (MBA) said that the tournament will be participated by a total of 1985 players from various parts of the country including many top seeded players.
Altogether 1674 players will participate in the qualifying round which is scheduled to start from July 21 onwards till July 23 while the main round will start from July 24 onwards.
The players who were selected from the upcoming the tournament in Imphal and subsequent tourney which begins in Guwahati by the end of this month will be named to represent India in Asian championships, Joykumar said.
“We’re also hoping for a better performance by state players,” he said. “After all the MBA is working hard to produce some badminton players for the 2024-2028 Olympics from Manipur.”
At the same time, the association is also making an all out effort to hire two foreign coaches for the singles and double players of the state within the shortest possible time, Secretary Shyamkumar of MBA said, adding that presently around two dozen talented state badminton players are undergoing intensive training at various academies including the Gopichand Academy and Prakash Padukone Academy.
It may be mentioned that the state Chief Minister N Biren Singh had congratulated Maisnam Meiraba Luwang on clinching the title of U-19 singles competition at the White Night Russian Junior International Tournament at St Petersburg, Russia last week. With this grand achievement, Meiraba Luwang has once again proved that Manipur, though a small state, has huge potential in sports. Meiraba is also scheduled to participate in Asian Junior Championship to be held in Suzhou, China from July 20 to 28.
