The future sporting champs

It is safe to say that the sporting scene in our city is headed for a bright future, with the gen-next talent we have at our disposal. The most heartening thing is that youngsters no longer see cricket as their only option! Be it football, basketball, futsal, or chess — namma Chennai boasts of young sportspersons who have succeeded not just in city tournaments, but also in the international sphere.

As Madras Week comes to an end, we look at a few of the most promising and upcoming youngsters from namma Chennai.

R. PragGnanandhaa, Chess
Becoming the youngest International Master is quite an achievement, isn’t it? This 10-year-old prodigy has already taken the chess circuit by storm with his impressive achievements. Having started playing the game as early as two-and-a-half years of age, Praggnanandhaa won the Indian National Under-7 Chess Championship in Nagpur and gold in Asian Youth Championships in Sri Lanka, before becoming the world’s youngest International Master in May this year.

His father, Ramesh Babu, states that Prag still doesn’t understand the magnitude of his achievement — “My son started playing chess after seeing his elder sister engrossed in the game. Once he won his first tournament, we realised that he had huge potential. So, he started attending chess classes. We still can’t believe the extent of his achievements.” When we speak to Prag, he exclaims that he doesn’t like to take special training to succeed in the game. “I like both cricket and chess, but I play the latter one really well. I like Viswanathan Anand sir a lot and would like to emulate him when I grow up,” says the kid, in an innocent tone.

Adhithi Rajagopal, Football
What started as a sport that she took up only because her coach asked her to, has now become a serious passion for her. 17-year-old Adhithi Rajagopal is already a prominent footballer in various junior categories. In fact, she even captained the AMMA FC Under-17 team in the prestigious DANA Cup in Denmark — this was the first time a team represented India in the tournament.

Apart from this, she has also been an integral part of state and the national team in various levels, including Under-14, Under-16, Under-18, Under-19, and Under-21. “I owe a lot to my coach Mr. Kalidasan. He was the one who transformed me from being an athlete to a football player,” says the P.S. Senior Secondary School student. Adhithi, who idolises David Beckham, is capable of playing both as a midfielder and striker. “I like to be versatile. I do what is necessary for my team. I am good at set pieces and I think that is my biggest strength,” she says.

She has received private training in the US and hopes to pursue sports as her under graduate studies in England. “In India, there is not much scope and infrastructure for girls to take up this sport. However, as I am planning join a college in UK, I would like to train professionally. Once I am well versed and confident, I would like to implement my lessons in our country and make Indian women’s football competitive,” she quips.

Vijai Pranav, Basketball
Though he was very passionate about cricket in his younger days, Vijai Pranav, later took a liking for basketball and has now set his sights on playing at a higher level. After getting selected as a second standby to represent the Under-14 team when he was 11, he was motivated to make it big in his game.

He later represented Tamil Nadu in various age group events, but he got his major breakthrough when he participated in a competition conducted by the NBA — the ACG NBA Jump. In the tournament, he performed  well and reached the finals. Apart from this, he was also a part of the All Stars Team in the tournament.

Speaking about his aspirations, the 21-year-old law student from School of Excellence in Law (SOEL) says, “I want to be a part of the NBA league and that’s all I work and yearn for. Through the NBA Jump competition, I was very fortunate to interact with the legendary player Brian Shaw, who is an example of how humble achievers can be. At the moment, I intend to complete my law degree and to gear up for the Indian team selections. In the future, I also want to be instrumental in establishing a world-class academy for basketball, with specific access for the under privileged in the country. Also, it is my dream to introduce wheelchair basketball to the country.”

Bharath Raj, futsal
In spite of futsal still being a less popular game in the country, Bharath Raj took a liking for this sport and made  rapid progress — he captained India in the Under-17 Futsal World Cup, which was held in Paraguay in June this year.
Bharath, who is currently in the 11th grade, actually started off as a football player, but owing to his expertise in dribbling, he also started pursuing futsal.

“Through a private club, I got a chance to represent Tamil Nadu in the National Under-17 Futsal Tournament held in Haryana. I won the player of the tournament title and it boosted my confidence level. After this, when I heard that I would be captaining India in the World Cup, it was surreal. It was an awesome experience competing with players from all over the world. Though we were not able to qualify, we gave it our best. I wish I could play  more such tournaments in the future and make India proud,” says Bharath.