Badminton champion Kidambi Srikanth takes charge as Guntur deputy collector

Mumbai: From badminton court to Deputy Collector’s chair, ace badminton champion and Padma Shree awardee Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday formally took charge as Deputy Collector in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur.

Srikanth submitted his joining report to Guntur collector Kona Shashidhar and took formal charge on Wednesday even though he is not expected to attend office every day. He will continue to live and train at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

The newly appointed deputy collector also went to thank Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati along with his badminton coach Pullela Gopichand.

Srikanth's brother Nandagopal Kidambi is also a shuttler who trains along with Srikanth at the Hyderabad academy. It was a proud moment for Srikanth's father KVS Krishna to see his son take charge in their native district.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had promised Srikanth a government job after he won the title at the Indonesian Championship in June 2017.

After being appointed as the Deputy Collector, Srikanth said, "I am happy to serve the public from my native place. As of now I want to focus on my game, but will try to understand the responsibilities of the Deputy Collector post and do justice to it."

The 25-year-old ace shuttler also thanked the chief minister, his coaches and the collector for the prestigious post.

In July 2017, Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu had also assumed the office of Deputy Collector at Gollapudi in Andhra Pradesh state secretariat. The Telangana government had also awarded the ace badminton player with a cash reward of Rs 5 crore and a residential plot.

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