Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme Selections 2018-19
GoSports Foundation announces five new athletes for Year 4 of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme
This is the fourth year we are extending our support to Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme as part of our CSR initiative.
In 2018-2019, the programme saw 5 new athletes being selected via an exhaustive selection process of 272 talented sportspersons competing in Olympic disciplines applying for support. The applicants were put through three rounds of screening, based on their performance and future potential. For the final round, 13 athletes were interviewed on March 21, 2018 in Mumbai to fill 5 slots available for the new inductees, by an interview panel consisting of former Physiotherapist of Indian Cricket Team John Gloster, Managing Director of ASM Technologies Limited, Rabindra Srikantan, Partner, Trainer & Executive Coach of Stillwater Consulting Avantika Sinha, Executive Director of GoSports Foundation Deepthi Bopaiah and Programme Lead of GoSports Foundation Arnab Das. The new athletes will join 20 others who have remained on the programme from the previous term.
These 25 elite athletes will be offered crucial support by the GoSports Foundation towards fulfilment of their sporting goals – the achievement of which would inspire and help move Indian sport forward. 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
Through our partnership with the GoSports Foundation and under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, the Programme will offer crucial and timely support to Indian hopefuls for the 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 Olympics.
The twenty-five elite sportspersons who will be supported by the GoSports Foundation under the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme 2018-19 are as below. The first five were selected through the just-concluded interviews, while the remaining twenty are continuing from the previous year:
Sl. No. |
Name |
Age |
Sport |
Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Meghana Reddy | 19 | Rhythmic Gymnastics | Bronze medal in Daria Shkurikhina Tournament 2017 |
| 2. | Namita Chandel | 25 | Kayaking/Canoeing | 9th in Asian Canoe Sprint Championship, Shanghai, China in 2017 |
| 3. | Ajay Singh | 20 | Weightlifting | Gold medal at Jr. Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in 2017 |
| 4. | Mohammed Anas | 23 | Athletics | Gold medal in 400m at Asian Athletics Championships, Odisha, 2017 and 4th in 400m finals at 2018 Commonwealth Games, Silver medal in 400m, 4x400m mixed relay, 4x400m men’s relay at the 18th Asian Games 2018 |
| 5. | Latika Bhandari | 24 | Taekwondo | Silver medal in Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship, Canada in 2017 |
| 6. | Aruna Reddy | 22 | Gymnastics | Won India’s first-ever gymnastics bronze medal at the World Cup in 2018 |
| 7. | Dattu Baban Bhokanal | 26 | Rowing | 13th in Men’s Single Sculls at the Rio Olympic Games, Gold medal in Men’s Quadruple Sculls at the 18th Asian Games 2018 |
| 8. | Dushyant | 25 | Rowing | Gold medallistat Asian Indoor Rowing Championship, Thailand in 2015, Bronze medal in Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls at the 18th Asian Games 2018 |
| 9. | N. Sathish Kumar | 25 | Weightlifting | 11th at Rio Olympics in 2016, and Gold medal at Commonwealth Games in 2014, 2018. |
| 10. | Kojum Taba | 20 | Weightlifting | 2016 Sr. Commonwealth Championship Gold medalist |
| 11. | Rakesh Patra | 25 | Gymnastics | Represented India at World Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017 |
| 12. | Dipa Karmakar | 24 | Gymnastics | 4th in Vault Final at the 2016 Olympic Games |
| 13. | Sai Praneeth | 25 | Badminton | Singapore Open Super Series Champion 2017 |
| 14. | Kidambi Srikanth | 24 | Badminton | Olympic Quarterfinalist at Rio 2016 and Champion of 4 Super Series Events in 2017, Gold medal (Mixed Doubles) at Commonwealth Games 2018. |
| 15. | Sameer Verma | 23 | Badminton | Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Champion 2017 |
| 16. | H.S. Prannoy | 25 | Badminton | US Open Champion 2017 and Gold medal (Team event) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games |
| 17. | Ruthvika Shivani | 20 | Badminton | Russian Open 2016 Champion, Gold medal (Mixed Doubles) at Commonwealth Games 2018. |
| 18. | Anjum Moudgil | 23 | Shooting (Rifle) | Silver in 10m Air Rifle and Bronze in 50m Prone at 2017 Commonwealth Shooting Championships, and silver medal in ISSF World Cup in Mexico 2018 |
| 19. | Manish Rawat | 26 | Athletics (Racewalking) | 13th in 20km event at the 2016 Olympic Games, and 6th in 20km finals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games |
| 20. | Swapna Barman | 27 | Athletics (Heptathlon) | Gold at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, Gold at the 18th Asian Games 2018 |
| 21. | Saurav Sharma | 24 | Taekwondo | Silver Medalist, Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship |
| 22. | Chikkarangappa S. | 24 | Golf | Winner, PGTI Eagleburg Masters 2016 |
| 23. | Bhavani Devi | 24 | Fencing (Sabre) | Winner of Turnoi Fencing Satellite World Cup in Iceland 2017 |
| 24. | G. Sathiyan | 24 | Table Tennis | Winner, Spanish Open 2017 & Belgium Open 2016, Gold medal (team event) and silver medal (men’s doubles) at Commonwealth Games 2018, Bronze medal in Men’s Doubles at the 18th Asian Games 2018 |
| 25. | Supriya Mondal | 20 | Swimming | Commonwealth Youth Games Silver medalist in 2015 |
The GoSports Foundation (GSF) is a not for profit entity set up in 2008 and working to professionalise Indian sport and aid the development of India’s most talented emerging and elite athletes, competing in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. The Foundation’s initiatives are premised on the belief that sporting champions are created when the right talent gets the right support at the right time.
India’s only individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, former team India cricket captain Rahul Dravid and All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand are on the Advisory Board of GoSports Foundation, and John Gloster, former physiotherapist of the Indian National Cricket Team, is the Head of Sports Science.