Badminton training begins but few players turn up

Nagpur, Nov 9

After a gap of around seven months, the badminton training got underway against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic at city indoor halls but very few players turned up on first day.

The halls were closed since March end following the extended lockdown. Finally the state government and local corporation authorities allowed to re-open the indoor halls, swimming pools and yoga centres this week. After completing cleaning and sanitization process, the badminton training started at university''s Subhedar Hall, DNC''s indoor hall and at NMC''s Vivekanand Nagar Hall on Monday. However, first day witnessed lukewarm response from the shuttlers.

When this scribe visited Subhedar Hall three coaches including Jayendra Dhole, Priya Deshpande and Prasad Sadhankar were seen training couple of players. Talking to Lokmat Times Dhole said, "On first day we already had not expected response from the players. I think after Diwali players will resume their badminton training gradually".

Another coach Priya Deshpande said due to fitness issues, the players are tiring within short time. They were out of practice for almost seven months . It will take some time to come back into rhythm".

However, a young player Priyansh Dube said since he concentrated on his fitness even in lockdown he hardly faced any difficulty while knocking on the court. Another budding player Rutuparna Ranade looked excited as the training finally started after long time. Ishita Dhamne spend some time in knocking after doing skipping exercise.

Junior national coach Kiran Makode also said very few players turned up at VBA Hall. Same was the case at Vivekanand Nagar Hall. Coach Nikhil Rokde said, " I think players will come only after Diwali. The indoor hall opened itself is satisfactory thing for the coaches who already faced financial losses”, he said.

Meanwhile RTM Nagpur University allowed athletics training at its track but no athlete and coaches turned up on first day.

It is also learnt that the scheduled meeting between Vidarbha Cricket Associaiton (VCA) and divisional commissioner Sanjeet Kumar didn''t take place due to latter''s busy schedule.

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The SOPs released by the state government as well as NMC were strictly followed at Subhedar Hall. The guards gave entry to those players and coaches who possessed i-card issued by the varsity. Players were asked to make entry at two places (0ne atentry gate and another at Subhear Hall). The guards also checked body temperature of the players thru thermal scanner.