GoSports athletes put in strong international performances

October 11, 2015, Kudus, Indonesia: GoSports Foundation athletes Satwiksairaj and Krishna Prasad (pictured above) stayed true to the billing as the top seeds as they beat the Indonesian doubles pair of Jun Hau Leong and Fong Hau Sum in straight games to win the U-17 Boys’ Doubles title at the Bibli.com Asia U 17 amd U15 Badminton Junior Championships in Indonesia. The young Indian boys powered past their Indonesian counterparts with a scoreline of 21-16, 21-15.

Fresh off a win at the Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior International Badminton Championships 2015, the top seeded Indian pair was in fine form as they did not drop a set in the tournament. They had earlier beaten Lu Chen and Su Li Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-14 in the semifinals.

The talented doubles pair were spotted by GoSports Foundation earlier this year, and are currently being supported by the Foundation through the Badminton Development Programme.

Earlier in the tournament, the doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Vaishnavi Reddy, also supported by GoSports Foundation won a bronze medal in the U-15 Girls' Doubles event. The youngsters from Hyderabad put up a tough fight in the semi-finals, but couldn’t get past the Indonesian pair of Putri Lasarti and Melanni Mamahit 21-17, 21-18.Speaking about the good showing of GoSports Foundation Athletes at the event, Saisudha Sugavanam, Programme Director of GoSports Foundation, said, “We are proud to be working with top junior players who have been doing exceptionally well. When we launched the Badminton Development Programme, we wanted to focus on the development of young players, including doubles teams, and we are proud to see the progress that our athletes are making. We believe that they have the potential to go even further, and we want to support them through their sporting journeys”.

Gold for Saurav Sharma

At the recently concluded Taekwondo National Championships, GoSports Foundation athlete Saurav Sharma won the gold medal in the 63 kg category at the 34th National Taekwondo Championships in Jalandhar.

22-year-old Saurav, who hails from Sonipat, Haryana, was part of the Indian contingent at the Asian Games in Korea in 2014, where he finished 5th.

Saurav is part of the GoSports Foundation's Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme, and has been receiving nutritional guidance, and support towards strength training and physical conditioning. As part of programme he will receive monetary support and access to top quality sports science expertise for the next 15 months.