Verma re-elected BAI chief

As expected, V.K. Verma was unanimously re-elected president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for a fourth term of four years at its annual general meeting here Sunday.

The hoopla over former India cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin wanting to contest against Verma turned out to be just that as the ex-cricketer, serving a life ban following allegations of match-fixing, reportedly pulled out of the fray at the last moment.

"Although there was a request from 22 affiliated units for a discussion on the Azharuddin affair, I appealed to the AGM to close the issue and it was agreed to," Verma told reporters.

The only other salient point was the creation of two more general secretary positions so as to delegate responsibility in view of additional workload, Verma said.

The three general secretaries are: Vijay Sinha (Uttar Pradesh) - Administration; Punnaih Chaudhary (AP) - Events; Omar Rashid (Assam) - Coaching and Development.

R. Kalsi (Punjab) was retained as the treasurer while six of the eight vice-presidents kept their slots. The two changes were Arvind Singhal and O.D. Sharma replacing Dilip Ghosh and Manek Saha, respectively, Verma announced.

Among the major decisions, former All-England champion Pullela Gopichand was retained as the national coach for a further four years, he said.

Gopichand and former multiple national woman's champion Ami Ghia have been co-opted into the executive committee with full voting rights as representatives of the players, Verma said.