New Delhi: PNB MetLife India, one of India’s leading life insurance companies, and Sara Foundation (An organisation for the promotion of sports) kick-started the third season of the biggest National open-platform for badminton at grassroots level for school children including underprivileged sports prodigies - PNB MetLife Junior Badminton Championship (JBC) 2017 – on Monday at Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi.
After scripting its unprecedented success in the first and second season with more than 8000 young shuttlers engaging in mesmerizing on-court battles, the third season of the tournament promises more excitement and high-octane badminton action with more than 1200 players including underprivileged kids registering for the opening leg of the tournament in Delhi.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by dignitaries with Mr. Dinesh Khanna, Arjuna awardee, Commonwealth medal winner and first Indian player to win Asian Badminton Championship, gracing the occasion as the Chief Guest.
JBC 3 will cover the length and breadth of the country with tournaments in 8 cities – New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Indore, Lucknow and Guwahati. The matches will be played in 5 age categories – Under-9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 for boys and girls. Top 4 kids from each category from every city tournament will proceed to the National Finale in New Delhi and get a chance to claim the National title.
This noble initiative is being sponsored by PNB MetLife and organised by Sara Foundation to promote grass-root level sports across the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashish Srivastava, CEO, PNB MetLife, said, “We are delighted to announce the launch of PNB MetLife Junior Badminton Championship Season 3 in association with Sara Foundation and CRY. We have been able to reach out to more than 8000 youngsters in the past two seasons of JBC and we look forward to make the third season even bigger and better. We’ve also strengthened our CSR initiative through training and coaching camps, reinforcing our commitment to identify and nurture young talent, thereby popularizing Badminton by taking this truly to the grassroots level. We appreciate Sara Foundation for taking the lead to promote innovative practices in Indian sports at the grassroots level.”
In addition to the action-packed head-to-head competition, PNB MetLife further extended its association with Child Rights and You (CRY) by conducting badminton camps across various project areas in the country for identifying and training talented underprivileged children. The camps were held in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Raichur and Gulbarga where the kids received training thrice-a-week for 10 months along with equipment including badminton racquets, shoes and sportswear. Kids shortlisted on the basis of their performance in the camps will participate in different legs of JBC 3 and will get a chance to be among sixteen winners of the coveted national badminton scholarship in underprivileged category.
Ashish Kumar Srivastava, Chairman, JBC Organising Committee, said, “We are excited to see the encouraging response for the third season which is a testament to the tournament’s success and popularity of badminton as a sport in India. With support from PNB MetLife, we are moving strongly in the direction to identify hidden talent in our country and we will surely produce future badminton stars of India. Sara Foundation remains committed to promote sports and we are very excited to continue our journey with PNB MetLife.”
After New Delhi, JBC 3 is set to get under way in Chandigarh, Indore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Lucknow. The feat would shift back to Delhi-NCR for the National Finale in June/July 2017.
Match Schedule:
