The 54th State Junior Ball Badminton Championship was completed amid intermittent rains during Onam. Malappuram Thiruvalli Govt. 280 athletes from 14 districts participated in the championship held at the Higher Secondary School ground. Palakkad won the boys category and Ernakulam won the girls category.
Intermittent rain continued to be a challenge for the activists. The fact that the race had to be held only when the rain stopped hindered the timely completion. Due to rain only matches of 5 players per team will be played in Tiruvalli. The national level competitions will be held in Andhra at the end of November. 15 players who perform well in this championship will be selected for the camp. The performance in the camp and the performance in Tiruvalli will be considered for the Kerala team.
Even though there are many limitations, all the players are excited about the opportunity they got after the Covid period. The players are also worried that ball badminton is not getting the same attention as football and cricket matches. The association has approached the Chief Minister with the demand to give jobs to those who get first, second and third positions at the national level.