Successful badminton tourney another feather in Andhra police’s cap

HYDERABAD - The successful and smooth conduct of the World Badminton Championships despite the initial security and swine flu scares has come as yet another feather in the cap of the Andhra Pradesh Police, which ensured an incident-free event.

The seven-day event, which concluded Sunday at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, proved that the police can provide best of the security and the organisers can ensure world-class arrangements for events of this nature.

This was the first time India hosted the World Badminton Championships and the way the event was conducted despite initial hiccups pleased the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The world body was impressed with the ability of the local police and the organisers and patted them for ensuring fool-proof security and a comfortable stay for over 350 players and officials from 42 participating nations.

The English team’s pull-out a day before the beginning of the event, following a media report of a terror threat, had cast a cloud on the championship but the BWF was convinced by the assurance from the Cyberabad police on the outskrits of Hyderabad that there was no real threat from terrorists and that they were quite capable of tackling any eventuality.

“We are happy and satisfied with the security provided for the championships. The police took all necessary steps to allay any apprehensions among the participants after the pull-out by the English team,” BWF chief operating officer Thomas Lund said.

He pointed out that only one team returned home but all the others stayed back as they had full faith in the security being provided by authorities here.

The Cyberabad police had deployed 1,000 security personnel, including 45 armed guards trained in anti-terror operations, as part of the fool-proof security for the mega event.

“In the beginning there were some problems of security and swine flu but from the fourth day, there was no problem. The last three days of the tournament went on very well,” K. Ch Punnaiah Choudhary, the organising secretary of the World Badminton Championships, told IANS.

“They (BWF) told us that the security for players and the officials was the highest of any championships. They were happy over all the arrangements and said they will come back to India and Hyderabad for future tournaments,” he said.

A day after the event concluded, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) held a meeting here Monday to review the conduct of the championships. “We analysed the good and bad things about the championships. The discussion was mainly on the incidents of the first few days and how to avoid them in future,” Chowdhary added.

The Cyberabad police heaved a sigh of relief over the peaceful and smooth conduct of the event. Though Police Commissioner S. Prabhakar Reddy was not available for comment, a senior officer told IANS that this proved beyond doubt their capability to provide the best of the security for international events.

The officer felt that the English team’s pullout was an “over reaction”, despite an assurance that fool-proof security was in place. The police were also happy that the pull-out had no impact on the other participants or the quality of the event.

The Cyberabad police, under whose jurisdiction the information technology hub, the Gacchibowli sports complex, the Hyderabad international convention centre and several other key venues fall, had previously provided security for the World Military Games, the Afro-Asian Games, the National Games, the Asian Development Bank meeting and Internet Governance Forum conclave.

Indian Home minister P. Chidambaram, too, walked in as an ordinary spectator on the final day to prove a point on security. He stood as a commoner at a ticket counter, bought a Rs.1,000 ticket and watched the match from the stands. It was only after he was spotted among the spectators that the organisers requested him to present medals to the winners.

“The visit by the union home minister on the last day of the tournament gave the championships good mileage. It proved that no one needs to have any fears and India can provide the best of security for any international sports event,” Choudhary said.

The participating teams were happy not just with the security but also with the accommodation, transport and other facilities provided by the organisers. “They all enjoyed their stay here. There were also no controversial decisions by umpires as the tournament concluded smoothly,” Choudhary pointed out.

Spectators initially kept away due to the security and flu scare, but more people turned out to watch the matches during last three days. According to the organisers, the stadium was nearly full to its capacity of 5,000 on the final day.

There were also badminton enthusiasts who were not scared of anything and enjoyed every moment. “It was a treat to watch big names from China, Indonesia and Malaysia playing in Hyderabad. Security was never a problem though swine flu created some scare. I hope that more such events will be held here,” said P. Vishnu, a software professional.