KOCHI: The Regional Sports Centre (RSC) here will add another dimension to its clutch of badminton courts on Saturday. Eight new courts constructed on top of the unused portions of the northern and southern galleries - called ‘Sky Courts’ - will be declared open at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Named after Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal, there will be four courts each on either side.
A Medical Equipment AED (Automated External Defibrillator) for preventing cardiac arrest for sportspersons will also be inaugurated.
The ‘Sky Courts’ have a total area of 12,000 square feet (about 30 cents) and are constructed at a total cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The cost covers the steel structure, wooden flooring, washrooms, water purifiers, walkways, bottom ceiling and LED lights and fans. Admission fees from new members was used mainly for the construction activities, RSC said in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital, which is giving free treatment to the injured sportspersons from RSC, has sponsored the AED to check cardiac arrest.
The equipment cost around Rs 1 lakh. RSC is the only sports centre in Kerala to have such a medical equipment for sportspersons, claimed the statement.
Regarding the ‘Sky Courts’, RSC termed it an engineering marvel, weighing more than 100 tonnes and standing independently on steel structures.“The whole load is on the columns supporting the northern and southern galleries. These ‘Sky Courts’ are the first of its kind in the country and enable maximum utilisation of the unused portion of the galleries of the stadium. It also enables uninterrupted training in badminton when the stadium is rented out. With the new addition, RSC will now have 23 badminton courts under one roof,” said the statement.Sports Minister A C Moideen is slated to inaugurate the new courts.