Vijayawada: The Badminton Association of India (BAI) had named Karanam Punnaia Chowdary of Andhra Pradesh as manager of the Indian badminton team for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from August 18 to September 3.
The announcement was made by BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Indian team consists of 20 players which includes P. V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, H. S. Prannoy, B. Sai Praneeth, Sameer Varma, Sourabh Verma, Rankireddy Satwiksai Raj, Chirag Shetty, Manu Attri, B. Sumeeth Reddy, Ashwini Ponnappa, Sikki Reddy, Chukka Sai Uttejitha Rao, Asmitha Chailha, Rituparna Panda, Aaarthi Sara Sunil, Akarshi Kashyap, Gayatri Gopichand and 10 officials including national chief coach Pullela Gopichand.
Chowdary, who hails from Inkollu in Prakasam district, has completed 50 years of experience in badminton and is serving as CEO to the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association. He is also vice-president of BAI.
He was the first international umpire representing India in 1983 and officiated in 37 countries across the world. He was also the first batch NIS coach in badminton and served the Indian team as a coach for six years before retiring as Deputy Director, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh in 1994.
Punnaiah Chowdary also held key posts in badminton and has a 30-year experience in organising international tournaments in India.
T. G. Venkatesh, MP and president APBA; P. Ankamma Choudary, Chairman, SAAP; T. Narayana Reddy, Senior Vice President, APBA; Rayapati Ranga Rao, Executive Vice President, APBA; Ramineni Ram Mohan, President, KDBA and other members of APBA congratulated Punnaiah Choudary on his appointment.
