Gaya: The Yonex-Sunrise East Zone Inter-State Team and Individual Championship 2024 will commence at the Lord Buddha Badminton Academy (DPS Gaya Campus, Dubhal) on Wednesday. Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will grace the inaugural function as the chief guest, while Abdul Bari Siddiqui, President of the Bihar Badminton Association and former Bihar Minister, will preside over the event. Ram Naresh Sharma, Chairman of the Magadh Educational Trust, Gaya, will be the special guest.
The tournament, which concludes on September 8, will see participation from teams representing Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and hosts Bihar. The first two days are dedicated to men’s and women’s team events, followed by individual competitions. Junior boys and girls from across the East Zone states will compete for top honours in team events, singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
Meanwhile, the Bihar Badminton Association (BBA) has announced a 26-member team for the tournament. BBA Secretary K. N. Jaiswal stated that players were selected based on their performance in the recent camp and state rankings. The camp was held in Gaya from August 28 to September 3.
Teams:
Men’s Team:
- Amrit Raj (Muzaffarpur)
- Saksham Vats (Patna)
- Akashdeep (Patna)
- Yashwardhan (Muzaffarpur)
- Sameer Raj (Purnia)
- Ritesh Kumar (Bhagalpur)
- Satyam Prakash (Samastipur)
- Akash Thakur (Samastipur)
- Ambuj Prakash (Jehanabad)
Women’s Team:
- Saloni Kumari (Purnia)
- Akanksha Pandey (Buxar)
- Srija (Patna)
- Simran Singh (Patna)
- Suhani Kumari (Patna)
- Vaibhavi Singh (Katihar)
Junior Boys:
- Kartik (Patna)
- Saksham Vats (Patna)
- Ranveer Singh (Patna)
- Parag Singh (Munger)
- Rishav Raj (Samastipur)
- Rudra Kashyap (Motihari)
Junior Girls:
- Srija (Patna)
- Suhani Kumari (Patna)
- Vaibhavi Singh (Katihar)
- Kumari Varsha (Bhojpur)
- Kumari Bhawna (Bhojpur)
Coaches:
- Kumar Sandeep (Ex-national player, Patna)
- Neeraj Kumar (LBBA, Gaya)
- Amrish Kumar (BAI Certified, Samastipur)
