Shuttlers Slam opens at Akatha: Kashi's junior badminton players take the court

Kashi's junior badminton season has a bright new fixture. Shuttlers Slam 2026 opened on Tuesday, 4 August at the Akatha Ground courts, organised by Courts of Kashi, with singles draws for the under-15, under-17 and under-19 age groups. Abhinav Verma is directing the tournament and Anand Pandey is its secretary, and chief guest Harshvardhan Singh opened the event with a word to the young players about how sport builds discipline, self-confidence and the habit of leading from the front. Eight results went up on the board on day one. Aaradhya Singh took the under-19 girls' singles 30-26 in the closest contest of the morning, and Shaurya Barnwal won the under-19 boys' 30-17. In the under-17s, Aaradhya Basu and Dhriti Pal came through on the girls' side, while Naitik Singh and Krishna Singh advanced in the boys' draw. Among the under-15 girls, Ashika Tiwari and Sanvi Ray both won their openers. Play is scheduled to continue at Akatha through 7 August, and it is an easy watch if you have a school-age player at home who has been curious about the game — entry-level age-group tournaments are exactly where a young shuttler learns what a real match feels like. Local competitions like this are how a city builds a bench, and Kashi's is quietly filling up.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: Amar Ujala