PANJIM: Goa is all set to make a strong impression on the West Zone Badminton Championship which gets underway on Friday at the Indoor stadium, Campal, hosted by the Goa Badminton Association in collaboration of Sports Authority of Goa.
The Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh squads arrived today and were seen sweating it out at the Indoor stadium.
Goa open their campaign against Maharashtra in the men’s category for the Rahimtoola Cup after the opening ceremony wherein State Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar will commission the tournament in the presence of Chief Secretary B Vijayan, at 10 a.m.
Goa’s hopes in the men’s category are strengthened with the inclusion of Parteek Mahajan and T Krishna. Goa’s seasoned player Govind Navelkar will also pose a stiff challenge to the Maharashtra.
Maharashtra men’s squad are being led by Subhankar Dey, India’s fourth seed.
The Goa women squad have been seeded directly in the quarter-finals and will meet the winners of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh in the battle for the Chadha Cup.
Goa also open campaign against Gujarat in the morning in the junior boys for the Narang Cup.
In Goa’s best hopes of the championship, the junior girls begin their campaign against Chhattisgarh for the Shafi Quereshi Cup in the morning.
Goa’s team manager Sandeep Heble told that euphoria was running high in the Goa camp especially with the Goa’s junior girls.
“Anura and Anushka are performing well at the All India level. Our prospects in the men’s category are also good. Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh are tough opponents but for the first time we have a pack of good players. We hope Goans will come to the indoor stadium to cheer their players,” said Heble.
Each State will field five singles and three doubles in the men section while in the women, junior boys and girls the format will be four singles and two doubles.
Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik will draw the curtains on the championship on September 20, with the finals scheduled 3 p.m.
