Badminton, a much neglected sport in Odisha, received notable boost thanks to the 3rd Secretariat All-Odisha Open Badminton Tournament, which was organized by Odisha State Secretariat Badminton Association here at Sahidnagar Indoor Hall from March 28 to 30. Around 150 shuttlers from across the state vied for titles in four categories of the three-day tournament, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 35,000.
S Appa Rao of East Coast Railway (Sambalpur) and Abhimanyu Bagarti of Bolangir bagged a double each with the former emerging champion in men`s singles, doubles and the latter winning titles in sub-junior boys` singles and doubles. Seventh seed Appa Rao, who returned to competition after a gap of six months, upset top seed Manas Ranjan Routray (Cuttack) in the singles final to retain the title. He earlier won the doubles title with Kannuri Murali Krishna (Bhubaneswar), defeating Cuttack duo of Routray and Sourav Bhuyan in the summit clash.
Bagarti claimed the singles crown, defeating local favourite Debasis Mishra. He then completed the double, winning the doubles title with Subham Subhasish as his partner. They beat Arabinda Sahu and Bikrant Jani in the final, which was an all-Bolangir affair.
Arabinda Sahu was adjudged the player of the tournament. East Coast Railway Sports Association president Dilip Kumar Samantaray gave away the trophies and cash prizes at the closing function. Organising committee chairman Priyadarshi Mohapatra, host OSSBA working president Lalit Mohan Patnaik and secretary Chitta Ranjan Rout were present on the occasion.