‘Le Panga’ said the publicity graffiti pasted across the temple city ahead of ‘Tirupati Corporation gold cup All India invitation men and women Kabaddi tournament’ slated to begin on Wednesday.
Players from across the country have started pouring into the city from Monday for the five-day event. Municipal Corporation of Tirupati and Tirupati Smart City Corporation Limited are jointly organising the event.
International badminton player Pullela Gopichand arrived to a warm reception on Tuesday, who will be the star attraction at the inaugural session. Similarly, the presence of Honnappa Gowda, the first to bag an ‘Arjuna award’ for Kabaddi, is sure to breathe inspiration into the 700-plus aspiring national players.
As a prelude to the event, a dazzing fireworks show was organised on Tuesday evening, which drew the attention of the denizens.
COVID test on arrival
The organisers of the tournament are leaving no stone unturned to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Forty-three teams from 22 States are participating in the five-day sporting event. A strict protocol is in place to conduct ‘on arrival’ COVID-19 RT-PCR test for all the players and accommodate them only after securing a negative report. Similarly, the double vaccination certificate had been secured at the screening level from every participant.
“We have readied accommodation for the contingent of nearly 1,000 visitors, including 700-plus players, team managers, coaches, physiotherapists and so on. Any player testing positive will be immediately quarantined and will be taken care of till their recovery,” says Municipal Corporation of Tirupati Commissioner P.S. Girisha
About 140 rooms in the TTD’s Srinivasam and Madhavam pilgrims’ complexes had been allocated for the visiting teams. Two special medical teams would be kept ready at Srinivasam as well as at Indira Maidanam, the sports venue, to monitor the health status of the players.