Seven underprivileged children will be mentored by former athlete and Arjuna award winner Ashwini Nachappa to help realise their dreams of becoming good sportspersons.

The initiative, launched by Dabur, received nearly 8,000 entries from all over India. Trials were conducted across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal to identify talented athletes. An independent sports panel then screened potential athletes and shortlisted 350 of them. These candidates then participated in a national camp held in Delhi. A team of experts headed by Ms. Nachappa picked the top seven athletes from the group.

Besides Sayali Mhaishune, who ran barefoot and won the under 17 district sports office inter-school athletic championships, the other winners are Avnee Rawat, Ujala, Shabnam, Vikas, Mohammed Meraj and Jainabaj.

( The writer is an intern with The Hindu )

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Delhi / Girbani Dutta / New Delhi – June 27th, 2016