SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 11: Jharkhand State under-15 and 17 boys and girls badminton championship cum state team selection trial for the national championship began at Indoor Stadium in the morning.
The national under-15, 17 boys and girls championship is to be held at Bhubaneswar (Odisha) from December 15 to 20.
A total of 109 boy and girl players from 17 districts of the state are participating in the singles and doubles events. The winner and runners-up of the singles event and only the winner of the double event will be selected in the team which will represent Jharkhand in the national championship.
Top rank players of the state including Ronak Negi, Neeraj Kesri, Adhya Singh, Shaara Sharma, Vaibhabi Maan, and Anisha Mishra are participating in the tournament.
Samrat Choudhary, the secretary Dhanbad district badminton association cum organizing secretary, said that the Dhanbad deputy commissioner (DC) will inaugurate the three-day championship in the afternoon. But to maintain the schedule, matches have been started. A panel of qualified state referees has already arrived from different districts to supervise the championship.
Vice-president Rakesh Tiwary, joint secretary Satish Singh, Parimal Singh, and Riyaj Khan of the organizing committee were present to start the match.
National panel referee Madhurendra Singh of DVC Maithon is present as the chief referee in the championship. Besides him, Abhishek Singh (Dhanbad), Ravi Kumar (Deoghar), Ashwani Kumar (Deoghar), Sudhanshu Shekhar and Madhusudan Murmu (Dumka), and U Akram (Ranchi) form the referee panel officiating the championship.