Kolkata: The first-ever East Zonal Para Badminton Championship organised by the Bengal Para Sports Association in association with Millennium Post under the aegis of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and Badminton Association of India (BAI) was recently held at the courts of New Town Business Club, Rajarhat, Kolkata.
The tournament was played over two days, with participants from seven states, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and almost 80 players, coaches and officials contesting for the top honours.
At a gala opening ceremony on June 24, the official t-shirt and the cap of the tournament were released by Padma Shri and Arjuna award-winning para-badminton player Pramod Bhagat, Prabhakar Rao, chairman (Para Badminton), Badminton Association of India (BAI) and other eminent para sports personalities.
On June 25 (Sunday), the event concluded with the prize distribution ceremony in the presence of Rao, Chandan Roy Choudhury, president, Bengal Para Sports Association, representatives from the Paralympic Committee of India, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Bhagat, Raja Magotra (presently world no. 7 in his category), Subrata Banerjee, ex-India international badminton player (able-bodied), and dignitaries from the participating state associations. Col. Indrajeet Roy, CEO of New Town Business Club, where the tournament was held, attended the event as the chief guest and gave away the prizes. Roy Choudhury thanked the Badminton Association of India particularly Rao for his continuous support. He also thanked the Paralympic Committee of India, the participating state associations and sponsors for their encouragement.
“This is the first time that such a zonal meet was organised involving various states from the eastern as well as the north-eastern part of the country. I hope the number of participating states would increase in the future and more players would take part,” said Caesar Sen, organising secretary of the tournament.