Chairman of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) A. Ravi Naidu on Saturday said development and promotion of sports in the State was one of the top priorities of the TDP-led coalition government.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the South Zone Inter-University Men’s Badminton Tournament-2026, being organised at KL Deemed to be University, Mr. Ravi Naidu said the government had plans to establish a world-class Sports City in Amaravati where all sports can be hosted at one place. Further, land had been allotted for construction of badminton academies — 3 acres in Visakhapatnam had been given to PV Sindhu, 12 acres in Amaravati to Pullela Gopichand and 5 acres in Tirupati to Kidambi Srikanth, he added.
For the first time in the country, without a written examination jobs were provided to 421 eligible sportspersons by following the horizontal reservation system in the Sports DSC, he pointed out. He said as many as 128 top universities from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala were participating in the tournament, with around 896 badminton players representing their respective universities.
Referring to the 87th National Senior Badminton Championship held recently in Vijayawada after a gap of 10 years, he said Surya Charishma did the State proud by winning the gold medal in the Senior Women’s Singles category. He said Andhra Pradesh women’s team finishing as runners-up in the senior team event was a testimony to the State’s badminton talent.
