Balram Singh to head selection committee of AITA Trust Scholarship Program

Former national team coach Balram Singh will head the AITA Trust's development programme which will support 16 young players with a scholarship of Rs.100,000 each per year.

Representative image.

Former national coach Balram Singh will head the selection panel for the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Trust, which will venture to identify 16 players in the under-14 age group for a scholarship of Rs.1 lakh each per year, starting with a camp at the DLTA Complex, New Delhi, on Friday.

The week-long camp will have 32 players from 15 state units. Vishal Uppal and Ankita Bhambri will be the other members of the selection committee. The players will be assessed not only for their tennis skills with competition among themselves but also for physical fitness and the overall potential.

The scholarship amount will be given to the players in three installments. The first installment of Rs.50,000 will be given to each of the 16 selected players, immediately after the camp.

The players will be monitored through the year, and the players will have to present accounts for the amount paid to them.

The AITA Trust has also invested Rs.60 lakh in the Tennis Vision Fund, and expects the corporates and private companies to contribute to the fund. The Vision fund will be utilised to help the players compete at home and abroad, apart from sourcing tennis equipment.

There will also be a team of three boys and three girls from among the 16 identified talent, who would be supported for tournaments at home and abroad.

READ | AITA Trust development program to fully support 16 young Indian tennis players

The fund will be used to strengthen tennis in schools apart from development of tennis infrastructure in small towns and under developed tennis regions in the country.

Overall, the Trust aims to support grassroots schemes, fostering talent and infrastructure development. The camp is scheduled to be held at the DLTA Complex from July 19 to 24.

The players nominated for the camp

Boys: Manan Nath, Yuvan Nandal, Aayush Bhat, Shreyas Krishnakumar, Manas Dhamne, Nitish Balaji, Arunava Mazumdar, Navya Verma, Samprit Sharma, Harsh Fogaat, Omaansh Choudhary, Ayushman Arjeria, Madhav Sharma, Hamza Mehmood, Devaharshith Neelam, Rushil Khosla.

Girls: Tanishq Patar, Shruti Ahlawat, Suhitha Maruri, Shrijana Thapa, Ruma Ashutosh Gaikaiwari, Kundana Sri Bandaru, Sweta Samanta, Suryanshi Tanwar, Samriddhi Singh, Riya Sachdeva, Samiksha Dabas, Amisha Shukla Monile, Anahat Pannu, Praanya Slathia, Veda Raju Prapurna, Hannah Nagpal.