Goa’s badminton team is all set to represent the state at the prestigious Yonex-Sunrise West Zone Inter State Badminton Championships 2024, scheduled to be held from September 2 to September 6, 2024, at Anand, Gujarat. A contingent of 20 promising players, comprising Junior Boys and Girls, and Senior (Men and Women) has been selected to showcase their talent and determination at these West Zone championships.
The team has undergone an intensive 21-day advanced preparatory camp at the Indoor Stadium, Campal, under the expert guidance of Chief Coach Navneet Nasnodkar and Assistant Coaches Anup Kushwaha, Avdhut Saptoji, and Mohammad Nadaf. Yoga sessions were conducted by Yoga Coach Suresh Kumar to enhance the players’ mental and physical fitness. The camp, organised by GBA in collaboration with SAG, received a significant boost with the visit of Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of the Badminton Association of India. GBA President Manoj Patil, Secretary Praveen Shenoy, Treasurer Sanjay Bhobe along with EC Member Naved Tahsildar distributed kits to the team.
Praveen Shenoy, Secretary of GBA, stated, “Our coaches as well as players have worked extremely hard and shown great determination. This camp is just the beginning of our efforts to elevate our players to the national level. We are committed to including more such focused sessions in the future to help our athletes reach their full potential.”
Manoj Patil, President of GBA, added, “In the coming months, we plan to organize similar camps aimed at player improvement and achieving zonal and national success. Our strategy will also involve a strong grassroots program and talent scouting across schools and talukas to build a robust pipeline for Goa’s badminton talent. There are also plans to start our own dedicated centre of excellence and we have started taking steps in this direction.”
The players selected for the championships are as follows:
Junior Boys / Men: Advait Balakrishnan, Arunesh Hari, Aryaman Saraf, Ashmeet Parsekar, Nishant Shenai, Parth Joshi, Rahul Deswal, Rudra Phadte, Soham Naik, and Suraj Lama.
Junior Girls / Women: Aarohi Coutoncar, Malaika Lobo, Minsohka Pereira, Myra De Noronha, Riya Haldankar, Shivanjali Thite, Shreya Mehta, Sufiya Shaikh, Synnovia D’Souza, Tabbssum Shaikh, and Twinkle Sullad
The team will be accompanied by officials including Coaches Navneet Nasnodkar and Anup Kushwaha, Managers Praveen Shenoy and Aanchal Mehta, and umpire Harish Rajput.
