Guntur: Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) chairman A Ravi Naidu said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is striving with the goal of keeping the sports sector at the top. He said on August 29th, National Sports Day will be conducted in Visakhapatnam in a big way.

He, along with SAAP directors E Ramana Rao, S Santosh Kumar, University Physical Education Director Paul Kumar, and University CSR Programme Officer Dr Venkataramana Manduru, inaugurated the zonal-level sports competitions held at Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, on Wednesday.

He said nearly 2,000 sportspersons from Nellore, Guntur, Palnadu, Bapatla, NTR, Krishna, and Prakasam districts participated. He first visited the badminton, boxing, and weightlifting courts in the indoor stadium, interacted with the players, and flagged off the matches.

He said that the state government is promoting sports with the aim of giving athletes due recognition and respect. As part of this, winners of district, zonal, and state-level competitions will receive cash incentives and medals from CM Chandrababu Naidu at the Sports Day celebrations on August 29.

He further highlighted that for the security of athletes’ careers, CM Chandrababu has ensured 3% job reservations under the sports quota in all government departments without a written test. DSDVOs Narasimha Reddy, Aziz, Jhansi Lakshmi, B Rajarajeswari, Yatiraj, Paul Kumar and others were present.