IDBI Federal Life Insurance today announced the names of the 26 talented children who have been shortlisted to play in front of Pullela Gopichand and his team of elite coaches at the prestigious Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, for the next round of evaluation of the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence #YoungChamps badminton programme.
#YoungChamps is a grassroots-level initiative which was launched by the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence programme and the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, to identify budding badminton players in the country, and motivate kids to perform and ace the game. Launched in December last year, the initiative witnessed an overwhelming response in the first stage with over a thousand video entries received from across India, as well as from Indians settled abroad in countries like Dubai, Singapore and Qatar.
The 26 shortlisted kids who are between the ages of 7-11 years, not only hail from all parts of the country including Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Sambalpur (Odisha), Goa, Vadodara, Shimoga (Karnataka), Coimbatore, Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Pondicherry, but a few talented youngsters have even been shortlisted from Dubai.
The evaluation process will be held on 21st April, 2018 at the Pullella Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, where the 26 kids will be evaluated on a number of parameters including their on-court performance, fitness, attitude, agility and footwork. After the evaluation process, a few selected kids will receive the opportunity to undergo further intensive training at the academy under the guidance of Pullela Gopichand and his team of coaches.
Karthik Raman, CMO, IDBI Federal Life Insurance said, “Our #YoungChamps badminton initiative is an endeavour of the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence programme and the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, to identify young talent at the grassroots-level, and train and nurture them into badminton champions. We are delighted with the positive response to our #YoungChamps programme in the first stage with hundreds of entries received from both India and overseas. The next stage will be an evaluation process, held at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, where a few select young kids will be handpicked for further training at the Academy.”
Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team and Programme Head, IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence said, “While going through the entry videos, it was amazing to see so much passion and talent amongst the children today. We hope to continue to nurture and channelize this passion, and groom the talented children into better and fitter sportspersons through the next stages of the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence #YoungChamps programme.”
Names of the Shortlisted Players:
1. Bhavesh Reddy, Telangana
2. T T Gnana Dattu, Hyderabad
3. Vansh Dev, New Delhi
4. Yashwi Patel, Pune
5. Divyam Kejriwal, Balangir
6. Noel Cherian Jacob, Trivandrum
7. R. Srinivasulu, Hyderabad
8. S Murari Venkat, Anantapuram
9. Pawan S, Shimoga
10. Showrya Kiran, Hyderabad
11. Naisha Kaur Bhatoye, Mumbai
12. Tushit Kejriwal, Sambalpur
13. Vedant Chauhan, Goa
14. Priyanshi Rathod, Vadodara
15. Anumula Srivally, Hyderabad
16. D. Anudeep, Hyderabad
17. Abhinav Garg, Bangalore
18. Charan Simha Reddy, Hyderabad
19. Priyanshee Pal, Kolkata
20. Anwesha Gowda, New Delhi
21. M Dinesh, Pondicherry
22. Jennifer Priya, Bhagalpur
23. S. Sai Praavin, Coimbatore
24. Sakshi Prakash, Dubai
25. Riyan Malhan, Dubai
26. Kunal M Patel, Ahmedabad