Goa Badminton Association (GBA) spells out its badminton plans for 2019 -20

Badminton in Goa is set to get a huge boost with Goa Badminton Association chalking out all round activities for players of various skill levels, right from beginners to intermediate and advanced players, as well as National level events in its calendar for 2019 -20.

For shortlisting of players to represent Goa for the different Nationals, 2 All Goa major ranking tournaments and one state championship will be organised in each of the age category groups as well as in seniors group. Prior to the nationals, advanced Camps will be held to finalise the teams and prepare the players for performing at their optimum levels. A professional Badminton League on the lines of the hugely popular India’s Premier Badminton League will be one of the star attractions this year, and will be held in November 2019 at Indoor Campal stadium once the reconstruction works are complete. In addition to this professional league championship, there will be Sub Junior, Junior and festival Badminton leagues on a smaller scale. For the Veterans (Masters), apart from the Ranking Tournaments, a Masters League has been conceptualised. Taluka and District Level Tournaments (North & South Goa) will be held during November 2019. Some fun events such as Children’s Badminton Festival and Women’s Badminton Festival are also planned to attract more youngsters to the game in a fun and easy going environment.

For the first time in its history, as many as three Zonal / National level events are being held in the same calendar year in Goa. Goa hosted the West Zone five years back in 2014, which now comes back to our shores after a gap of five years. This edition of West Zone is scheduled to be held from 18 to 21 September 2019 at Indoor stadium, Campal. Most of the outstation players prefer this venue due to its beautiful locale and close proximity to the beach and river. After organising a successful National Masters tournament during 2018 -19 season which had record number of 2000+ entries, Goa will host an All India Masters Ranking Tournament from August 24 to 30, 2019, where large number of players are once again expected to participate. Sports Complex at Peddem shall be the venue for the same. Another major event will be in the Senior Men's and Women's category. Goa which has never organised a Senior Ranking tournament in its history before has taken up the challenge of organising such a prestigious All India tournament from February 18 to 23, 2020 next year. Goa will get to witness India’s top ranked players in action in this championship which will be a good exposure to our own players and a colourful display of games to spectators.

On the coaching front, the State Association has chalked up plans to conduct camps and sessions throughout the year from July onwards at various centres. National Games advanced training for top ranked junior and senior players will also begin shortly once the final nod is received from the SAG. In the past, Goa lacked sufficient number of coaches, umpires and referees but over last two seasons, efforts have been made to train number of youngsters in these areas. Other than being a player, there are various other opportunities available to manage the technical aspects of the game. To meet these objectives, the Association has scheduled the following workshops this season: Match Controller Workshop, Refresher Courses for Coaches / Officials, Workshop for Preliminary coaches, Certification Course for Umpires / Referees and Workshop for Physical Education Teachers. GBA has also requested the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to allot it one Level 1 Coaching workshop, which is under consideration by the National Body.

In September, the GBA Annual Awards ceremony for 2018 -19 will be held which will be an annual get-together of badminton enthusiasts as well as an event where cash incentives to players with memorable achievements and various other awards to players, administrators of the game and organisers will be disbursed.National stars such as Tanisha Crasto and Anura Prabhu Desai and Outstanding players like Lydia Barreto, Anjana Kumari, Harsh Mane, Yash Desai, Shourya Joshi, Rudra Dukle, Sushil Nayak, Pranjal Chimulkar, Anar Singbal, Emilia Silveira, Aashrun Gautam, Tejan Fallary, etc are some of the few who will be eligible to receive the honours.

Badminton is a hugely popular sport in India and Goan players are working hard to be the best in the Country. Though Goa has a long way to reach there, the State Association is taking many sincere steps forward to achieve various objectives. The Association has appealed to various corporates to come forward to provide financial support to our shuttlers who are bringing immense glory and laurels to the State. The Association invites feedback / suggestions to take badminton in State marching ahead, which may be emailed to sandeepheble@gmail.com or gbagoaonline@gmail.com

More information may be obtained from GBA President Narahar Thakur (9823040565) or Secretary Sandeep Heble (9326129171).