Badminton legend, Pullela Gopichand handpicks fourteen talented youngsters for intensive training under the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #YoungChamps programme

  • The selected kids will train at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad under the guidance of Pullela Gopichand and his team of coaches

Chennai, 24 April 2018: IDBI Federal Life Insurance today announced the selection of fourteen young badminton players under the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #YoungChamps programme. The #YoungChamps will undergo intensive training at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad under the guidance of Pullela Gopichand and his professional team of coaches.

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The #YoungChamps selected are:

1) Sai Praavin S, Coimbatore

2) D. Anudheep, Hyderabad

3) Sakshi Prakash, Dubai

4) R Sphoorty, Hyderabad

5) Vansh Dev, New Delhi

6) Showrya Kiran, Hyderabad

7) Shanay Patel, Ahmedabad

8) Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye, Mumbai

9) A Bhavesh Reddy, Telangana

10) Pawan Suresh, Karnataka

11) Tushit Kejriwal, Odisha

12) Abhinav Garg, Bangalore

13) Riyan Malhan, Dubai

14) Charan Simha Reddy, Hyderabad

After a rigorous evaluation process, these talented young players, aged between 7 -11 years, have been selected purely on the basis of their performance, fitness, attitude, agility, and footwork. During the next stage of the programme, the #YoungChamps will train at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy for two weeks during the summer and winter vacations respectively. During this four-week tenure, the kids will get an opportunity to learn new techniques and master various skills. In order to strengthen their technical and tactical skills, special coaches will be assigned to test the physical and mental strength of each kid with a focus on their behaviour, discipline and fair play. The kids will also be able to interact with and observe the country’s top national and international players at the Academy which will inspire and motivate them to train harder.

At the end of the training, based on Pullela Gopichand and his team’s evaluation of their overall performance, fitness and commitment, the talented kids could receive an opportunity to train permanently at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy which will be sponsored by the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence programme.

Karthik Raman, CMO, IDBI Federal Life Insurance said, “We are delighted to announce the fourteen kids who are our first-ever IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence #YoungChamps. The four-week innovative training programme at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy will allow the elite team of coaches to hone in on specific areas of improvement for the overall development of each of the selected kids. Badminton legend, Pullela Gopichand himself will keep a close eye on every kid in the programme, as we seek to identify those whom we can nurture and develop to become India’s next badminton stars.”

Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team and Programme Head, IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence said, “I am thrilled to see such a tremendous response to the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #YoungChamps programme. It was extremely difficult to shortlist the twenty-six kids out of the thousand-plus entries that we received in the first round and it was even more difficult to select the final fourteen budding badminton players. All of them show immense promise and potential, and we will now work with each #YoungChamp to help them further develop their skills and gain confidence.”

IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #YoungChamps programme is India’s first-ever grassroots-level badminton initiative which was launched in December last year by the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence programme and the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. The aim of the programme is promote badminton among the youth, and to identify budding badminton players who will be the country’s next champions. Over a thousand entries were received in the first round, out of which twenty-six kids were then shortlisted for an evaluation process at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad from which the final fourteen #YoungChamps were selected.

About IDBI Federal Life Insurance 

IDBI Federal Life Insurance is one of India’s growing life insurance companies and offers a diverse range of wealth management, protection and retirement solutions to individual and corporate customers.

IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd is a joint-venture of IDBI Bank, India’s premier development and commercial bank, Federal Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks and Ageas, a multinational insurance giant based out of Europe.

Having commenced operations in 2008, IDBI Federal was able to achieve breakeven within just 5 years; the Company’s passion for innovation and growth helped it achieve this feat.

Through a nationwide network of 2, 900+ branches of IDBI Bank and Federal Bank, and a sizeable network of advisors and partners, IDBI Federal Life Insurance has achieved presence across the length and breadth of the country. As on March 31, 2017, the company has issued over 10 lakh policies with a sum assured of over Rs. 58,000 crore. IDBI Federal Life Insurance has total assets under management of Rs. 6090 crore and a robust capital base of over 800 crores, as on March 31, 2017.

To know more, visit www.idbifederal.com.

About the sponsors of IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd

IDBI Bank Ltd. continues to be, since its inception, India’s premier industrial development bank. It came into being as on July 01, 1964 to support India’s industrial backbone. Today, it is amongst India’s foremost commercial banks, with a wide range of innovative products and services, serving retail and corporate customers in all corners of the country from 1,717 branches. The Bank offers its customers an extensive range of diversified services including project finance, term lending, working capital facilities, lease finance, venture capital, loan syndication, corporate advisory services and legal and technical advisory services to its corporate clients as well as mortgages and personal loans to its retail clients. As part of its development activities, IDBI Bank has been instrumental in sponsoring the development of key institutions involved in India’s financial sector – National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and National Securities Depository Ltd, SHCIL (Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd), CARE (Credit Analysis and Research Ltd).

To know more, visit www.idbibank.com.

Federal Bank is one of India’s leading private sector banks, with a dominant presence in the state of Kerala. It has a strong network of over 1,247 branches and 1,485 ATMs spread across India. The bank provides over four million retail customers with a wide variety of financial products. Federal Bank is one of the first large Indian banks to have an entirely automated and interconnected branch network. In addition to interconnected branches and ATMs, the Bank has a wide range of services like Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Tele Banking, Any Where Banking, debit cards, online bill payment and call centre facilities to offer round the clock banking convenience to its customers. The Bank has been a pioneer in providing innovative technological solutions to its customers and the Bank has won several awards and recommendations. 

To know more, visit www.federalbank.co.in.

Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning 190 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life insurance products designed to suit their specific needs, today and tomorrow. As one of Europe’s larger insurance companies, Ageas concentrates its activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the major part of the global insurance market. It operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors.

Ageas ranks among the market leaders in the countries in which it operates. It represents a staff force of over 50,000 people and reported annual inflows close to EUR 34 billion in 2017 (all figures at 100%).

To know more, visit www.ageas.com.

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