SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 16: K Prabhakar Rao of Jamshedpur has been made the manager cum coach of the Indian team for the World Para-Badminton Championship level-1 which is to be held in Thailand from August 16 to 21. The Indian team left for Thailand on Monday.
This is the second time when Prabhakar Rao has been made the manager of the Indian contingent for an international event. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he was the manager of the Indian badminton team which won 19 medals including five gold and eight silver.
Prabhakar Rao is the general secretary of the Jharkhand Badminton Association and chairman of the Para-Badminton Association of India. This time, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has decided to send a single person with dual responsibility (manager cum coach). Having seen his lucky role in Tokyo Olympics, BAI selected Rao to discharge the responsibility.
“We have high hopes from the team this time as the morale of the Indian players is high after their outstanding performance in Tokyo Olympics last year. They have made special preparations for Thailand World Championship and know how to perform in a crucial stage,” he said.
Rao said the World Para-Badminton body has allowed two coaches on the court from Thailand Championship. This would help the players in performing as per their potential.
Indian team coach cum manager said Vikram Umesh (Tata Steel Jamshedpur), Srikant Kadam, Manoj Sarkar, and Krishna Nagar are among the selected players on whom the country banks on high performance.
Jharkhand Badminton Association President Dipak Verma, Executive President Dipak Sinha (IAS), Vice president Dipak Jha, NK Dey, Dr G Prasad, AR Khan, Treasurer Ravi Singh and Indian badminton team national coach Sachin Rana have congratulated Rao for his selection and expressed hope that the Indian squad would perform as per reputation in the world championship.
