Top coaches hail Khelo India accredited academies

New Delhi: Since the Khelo India Programme was launched in 2017, many institutes have been accredited under the Khelo India Talent Development Programme across India. The academies provide full scholarships, which include accommodation, diet and equipment to the athletes who get selected for the Development Programme after performing well in the Khelo India Youth Games. The third edition of the competition will be held in Guwahati from January 10 to January 22.

The Punjabi University in Patiala became a Khelo India accredited academy in 2018. A total of 30 students have been selected after putting up good performances at the Khelo India Games to train in archery at the Punjabi University which has been running since 2007. They have produced medallists such as Gagandeep Kaur (Commonwealth Games 2010 - bronze in archery) and Trisha Deb (Asian Games 2014 - bronze in archery).

"We were given the Khelo India Games accreditation because our results are better than the other academies in India. Punjabi University has been producing great results. Our university mainly focuses on archery as far as Khelo India Games athletes are concerned. However, Punjabi University provides facilities for all sports including athletics, football, hockey and so on," said Surender Singh Randhawa, archery coach at Punjabi University.

Randhawa, who is an Asian Grand Prix gold medallist in archery added that Punjabi University helps athletes prepare for international tournaments.

"The university helps athletes prepare for international tournaments. Our main focus is on the Olympics. Our biggest target is the Olympic medals. We have two grounds for archery in the university and we provide world-class facilities," said Randhawa.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khelo India Academy in Konni, Kerala was mainly built for the upcoming volleyball players in India. There are a total of 18 athletes in the academy which started in December 2018.

"This academy was mainly built for the volleyball players coming out of the Khelo India Games. We have an indoor stadium, help centre, accommodation for athletes and two outdoor volleyball courts," said Gopu Kumar, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Khelo India Academy.

Kumar added that the main target of the academy is to help volleyball players selected from the Khelo India Games to play for the Indian volleyball team.

"We have coaches from the Sports Authority of India training the athletes. Our main target is to help the athletes to join the Indian volleyball team. Two players from the academy have played for the Indian Junior team," said Kumar. IANS

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