Berhampur: The Ganjam District Badminton Association lamented the absence of an indoor hall and wooden court, which was required for young badminton players to boost their talent.

"Ganjam has many talented badminton players who need proper practice in wooden courts to excel. Unfortunately, the state government has not provided these facilities in Berhampur. There are no courts for the players to practice. The government must come forward in this regard," said the secretary of the association, T. Surya Prasad, who was a state player and is at present a coach.

"We have conducted the state-level Badminton Ranking Championship for the first time in Ganjam district and decided to conduct such events at regular intervals to provide exposure to our players, generate interest about badminton and create pressure on the government to provide us at least a venue to play," said Prasad.

"The championship was held at Khallikote College indoor hall cement court on a rent of Rs 1,000 a day. There is a wooden court in Bhanja Vihar complex but the rent there was Rs 7000 a day, which we couldn't afford. The indoor hall at the Railway Institute was the main venue of the association's tournaments earlier. But, now the railway authorities are not allowing us to use the venue. Construction of one indoor hall with four wooden courts is necessary in Berhampur," he said.

Wooden court is safer for the knee of the players and indoor hall is necessary to tackle the wind flow and make badminton an all-season play, said a sport enthusiast.

President of the association, E. Jayant Rao, urged the state government to provide them indoor facilities.

"Several districts of the state are having indoor facility. We barely need one indoor hall and wooden court for our young talents," Rao said.