Badminton boost in city elates Olympian Dipankar

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, October 15

Legendary ace badminton player and two-time Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharjee, who started his badminton academy at the Raizada Hansraj Stadium here in May, is happy with the positive response showed by budding players towards the sport.

He said students were enjoying his company and actively participating in the game and honing their skills.

“I am getting really good response from the city. Nearly 100 students from Jalandhar as well as nearby areas have been enrolled in the past three months. I am glad that parents are appreciating the training given to their wards and how they are shining in the sport and bringing medals to home in the school and district- level tournaments,” Bhattacharjee said.

He said with five courts available for badminton, he was sure that with right guidance and coaching being given to students, the city would produce a number of champions in the years to come. “I take regular sessions with young players and also, the two coaches from my academy are permanently deployed at the stadium to assist the players,” he said.

Meanwhile, when interacted with some of the students at the stadium, Himang, a student of Class VIII of MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, said it’s a wonderful experience being trained under the legendary player who had represented India in the Olympics, Commonwealth, Asian Games and the prestigious Thomas Cup. When asked if facilities at the stadium are up to date, Himang said what matters for him the most was the coach. Hence, even if something is lacking at the stadium it’s not an issue for him.

Another player Ashwin, who recently joined the academy, said: “We have five courts at the stadium. Three of the courts are wooden, while two are mat courts,” he said, adding that it would be good if the interim committee of the District Badminton Association replaces wooden courts with courts of mat.

First visit to city in March

It was in March this year when the renowned shuttler visited the city first time to have a look at the stadium, infrastructure and training facilities available for budding players. He then showed keen interest in coming up with a badminton academy here to provide coaching to the budding players and finally in May he was given permission by the interim committee of the District Badminton Association to start his academy and impart training to young badminton aspirants in the region.