Infosys Foundation on Thursday announced a tie-up with the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) committing a grant of Rs 16 crore to spot and train talented youngsters and make them capable of competing at the national and international sporting events.
Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty, who signed the MoU with Academy founder Padukone, said she would love to see the Academy identify talents from tier II and tier III cities, and build them into sportstars. “As a country we love sports, but when it comes to making a career in sports, lack of institutional support discourages some of the finest athletes to pursue their passion. To compete successfully at International level, Indian athletes deserve good infrastructure and training support which must be comparable to the best in the world. I do hope that our support through the Infosys Foundation – PPBA Champions Nurturing Program will address the existing gaps and help not just a few, but an entire generation of badminton players make the country proud through their achievements,” she said.
The intensive all round coaching programme, known as Infosys Foundation-PPBA Chaimpions Nurturing Programme, will commence from October 2019 and will be completed over a period of five years. The PPBA will coach 65 junior athletes every year.
The Infosys Foudnation-PBBA partnership is aimed at nurturing promising badminton talent in the Academy through an intensive training program with the goal of helping them become future medal contenders at events such as the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.
Padukone said the Academy, among the other things, will meet boarding, lodging and travel needs of players and coaches, and will provide badminton infrastructure including a sports science center, gym, swimming pool among other facilities. “As we get ready to celebrate our silver jubilee year, we are delighted to announce this long term partnership with Infosys Foundation that shares our vision of nurturing Indian sports talent. The grant will provide impetus in equipping our athletes with world ..
Academy’s chief coach Vimal Kumar said: “Over the last three decades as a player and coach, I have seen a very impactful shift in the approach towards badminton as a sport and career choice in India. Today, at PPBA we have athletes from diverse backgrounds and age groups who are steadfastly focused on excelling in this game, and it gives me immense joy when I see our past and present athletes excel in the national and international arena.”