NEW DELHI: Talented shuttler B Sai Praneeth and Olympian rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal were among the six new athletes selected by GoSports Foundation, who will be supported during the third year of their 'Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme'.
The other new entrants are Asian Games bronze medallist rower Dushyant, CWG gold medallist weightlifters Kojum Taba and N Sathish Kumar.
Gymnast Rakesh Patra, who has participated in three World Championship is also a part of the project. This project comprises 20 elite athletes and 14 from the previous term have been retained. It includes likes of gymnast Dipa Karmakar, shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma, golfer Chikkarangappa to name a few.
The new entrants were brought in via an exhaustive selection process which saw 282 talented sportspersons competing in Olympic disciplines apply for support. The applicants were put through three rounds of screening, basis their performance and future potential.
For the final round, 17 athletes were interviewed on April 22 in Mumbai, by an interview panel comprising actor Rahul Bose (former India rugby player), Leadership Trainer, Executive Coach, and Programme Advisory Board member Girish Manimaran, and GoSports Foundation Executive Director Deepthi Bopaiah.
The support structure offered to the athletes will be broadly directed towards: Training and Development, Competition, Mentorship, Legal Advice for Commercial Engagements, Support on Media Management and PR Career Guidance, Knowledge Building Workshops and Seminars.
Speaking after the completion of the interviews in Mumbai, Dravid said:"It's incredible to see the number of sportspersons who have applied to the programme as we move into our third year. Personally, I am inspired by all their stories and look forward to interacting with them through the programme term. Hopefully, their success can continue to inspire many others to strive for sporting excellence."