Chennai's Mylapore is now home to a new badminton academy

CHENNAI:  Chennai has an enviable badminton culture, with all the clubs in the city, major schools and colleges boasting badminton courts. Adding to the existing list of academies that cater to the needs of players and badminton enthusiasts is Beach-Side Badminton Academy in the heart of the city.

Started by Soundara Rajan, a badminton enthusiast, in November 2020, the spacious academy is situated opposite St Bede’s School grounds on Karaneeswarar Pagoda Street, Mylapore. After the state government relaxed lockdown restrictions, the academy is once again open for training.

"Mylapore lacked a good quality badminton court, so I thought of developing a facility and the response has been very good," said Rajan. Flexible timings and grassroots training facility has helped the academy get good patronage from children.

"Players from the age of six can train at the academy. We are open as early as 5 am and one can practise till 10 pm. Coaches from the Mylapore Club train the players. Tharun is the head coach," he informed. The state-of-the-art courts offer a real-tournament ambience to players while training.

"There are three wooden courts with a synthetic mat on top which is based on BWF norms. There is a monthly membership for the players. One can also use the facility on a daily basis. The summer coaching camp is put on hold based on the Tamil Nadu government advisory. The facility is located near Marina Beach, which is a big advantage as players will have easy access to transport. Not just professional players, youngsters and housewives, who wish to train for fitness, and professionals who want to stay healthy and fit can utilise the facility," he shared.