On Sunday 11th April 2021, the Telugu Badminton Club of Canterbury (TBCC) organised a first of its kind community event, “WHANAUNGATANGA”, with the intention to bring together its diverse community of players. Since its inception, the club has always included players from various ethnic backgrounds including Kiwi, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Filipino and Nepali just to name a few. The event was run by TBCC’s junior players, Pranavi took on the role as MC for the evening. The rest of the junior team assisted her, this included players Keerthana, Abhinay, Tanvi, Raveena, Shreya, Shaffina, Rosemary and Matthew. On this special occasion, chief guest Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister Hon Dr. Megan Woods presented awards to several players from the club. 

These awards were first given to Pavan Krithinti and Anil Kumar, who displayed exceptional performance outside of TBCC events. Dr. Woods then presented prizes to Shankar Kumar and Ashil Joy who were men’s double runners up in St. Paddy’s tournament last month. Players Saranya Duraisamy and Taj Wasim also received prizes from Dr. Megan Woods as they were winners of mixed doubles in the same tournament. Winners of Men’s Double Championship in TBCC’s Summer League Raam Kumar and Marlon Silva also received trophies. Dr. Woods finally presented awards to the winning group of TBCC’s Summer League, which included 14 players who performed to their full potential.  

Sharing a few words, the Minister of Housing exclaimed that she thoroughly enjoyed the evening and that it was great to see young people come forward in doing a fantastic job in running the event. Talking about how diverse New Zealand is, she appreciated the efforts put in by TBCC in organising a community event of this kind. She further added, TBCC could make a “United Nations of Badminton”. Dr. Woods then went around and personally enquired about every player’s wellbeing and interacted with their family members, assuring them that any kind of support could be provided if needed, by the NZ government. 

After the awards presentations and Dr. Megan Wood’s speech, the gathering then broke for dinner, which was provided by Indian Paradise. – President, Telugu Badminton Club of Canterbury Incorporated