Odhisha CM felicitates Thomas Cup Champions

By Our Special Correspondent

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday honored the Indian men's shuttlers and coaches who won the 2022 Thomas Cup.

India won this prestigious trophy for the first time in the history of the Thomas Cup Championship which started in 1948-49. Apart from hockey and cricket, this is the third sporting event in which India has become the world champion in the team event.

National Chief Coach Pullela Gopichand, players Kidambi Srikanth, Dhruv Kapila, Pronoy HS, Priyanshu Rajawat, Vishnuvardhan Gowd, GK Prasad, Arjun MR, Chirag Chandra Shekhar Shetty and Rakki Saireddy were present at the special function held at the Lok Seva Bhavan Convention Center.

Gopichand was honored with a Patnaik shawl and a memento. All the team players were given Rs 10 lakh cash, shawls and mementos each. The players also presented a Team India jersey with autographs to the Chief Minister.

Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said that India has now become a production hub for world champions in badminton. This marked the beginning of a new era of Indian dominance in badminton. He said there was a lot of interest among children and parents on badminton across the country.

Praising Team India, he said that it was a historic achievement for our boys to become world champions in a tough sport like badminton and a moment of pride for the whole country.

It is unthinkable that India would have dominated a sport like badminton a decade ago. Due to the dedication and commitment of coaches like Gopi Chand and the support of the Badminton Association, Central and State Governments, India has been able to consistently excel on the international stage for the past 10 years.

Speaking on the efforts being made by the state to promote badminton, he said, “Even in Odisha, we are investing heavily in badminton. In partnership with Gopichand, a state-of-the-art high-performance facility will be launched in the next few months.

"We are building 89 multi-purpose indoor halls across the state. These are mainly used for the development of badminton in the state. He is hopeful that many more champions will emerge from Odisha in the coming years.

The Chief Minister announced that his government was also likely to host the Odisha Open as an annual event and would support more such international championships.

While each state promotes its own players, Odisha is the only state across the country that promotes all players. Gopichand said in his speech that now Odisha is at the forefront of promoting sports.