GUNTUR: After the State government issued orders allotting two acres of land to Late badminton champion and coach G Sudhakar Reddy, his wife Dr Savithri expressed joy and said she is planning to set up a badminton coaching centre to fulfil her husband’s dream to provide coaching to poor students free of cost.
A native of Guntur, Sudhakar Reddy won two medals in the Badminton Masters National Championship—Silver in Men’s Doubles (55+) and a Bronze in mixed doubles (55+). He played a key role in producing several championship shuttlers, who have later represented the country at various stages.
Reddy, initially, spotted and groomed India’s top shuttler Srikanth Kidambi and his brother Nandagopal Kidambi during a talent scouting programme in 2001. He was instrumental in shaping Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s career during his formative years.
The badminton champion succumbed to a cardiac arrest while he was attending the BWF World Masters Championship in Poland in August 2019. Speaking to TNIE, his wife Savithri, who is a physical education teacher at a women’s college, said, “He contributed 30 years of his life to badminton. He always worked hard to encourage people to participate in sports and his dream was to provide equal opportunities to the poor people to shine.”
Following Sudhakar Reddy’s dream, Savithri is currently running a coaching centre—Gujjula Sudhakar Reddy Badminton Academy—in Guntur in the memory of her late husband. She is providing coaching to 40 children from various districts, including Kadapa, Nellore and Warangal of Telangana. Some students of Sudhakar Reddy have also volunteered for the cause.
“We face several issues as we don’t have a permanent coaching centre and a place to provide accommodation to the children. As the government has allotted two acres of land, we are now planning to set up a coaching centre with world-class facilities,” she said and added that due to lack of a good coaching centre in the city, which has produced great players like Srikanth, many are moving to bigger cities for better facilities.
“This coaching centre will provide opportunities to several children from the surrounding areas to pursue their dream. Within two years, we will develop a permanent coaching centre in the land allotted by the government, which will enable us to provide free coaching and the best accommodation for the children,” she added.