Hyderabad : KOOH Sports launches the second season of “Speedstar”, a nationwide talent hunt for the young flying Indian. KOOH Sports is a new age Sports Company set up with a passion to get kids of today to embrace sport and more importantly a healthier lifestyle.
On 19th January 2014, Speedstar Season 2 kicked off the heats in 2 cities- Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
2000 kids registered in the Hyderabad city heat and the exciting day ended with the Speedstar team finding their top 8 runners:
|
Sr. No. |
Name |
Category |
Age Group |
Time |
|
|
1 |
R Sunita |
Girls |
Under 10 |
9.65 |
seconds |
|
2 |
M Bhavya |
Girls |
Under 12 |
14.03 |
seconds |
|
3 |
K Navya |
Girls |
Under 14 |
15.07 |
seconds |
|
4 |
G. Nithya |
Girls |
Under 16 |
12.89 |
seconds |
|
5 |
PrudviRaj |
Boys |
Under 10 |
8.71 |
seconds |
|
6 |
Harikrishna |
Boys |
Under 12 |
11.96 |
seconds |
|
7 |
R.Ramakrishna Reddy |
Boys |
Under 14 |
11.79 |
seconds |
|
8 |
S. Shubam |
Boys |
Under 16 |
11.57 |
seconds |
These 8 Hyderabad Heat Winners were felicitated by Speedstar Brand Ambassador – India’s most successful sprinter P. T. Usha, who shared her excitement at the end of the city heat, “I have been associated with Speedstar for two years now. It’s great to see that an organisation like KOOH Sports has come forward to promote athletics at grassroots level and with proper training and guidance these kids can do very well in the field of athletics. We have witnessed a phenomenal talent in the last 8 city heats and after the success of the Hyderabad Heat; I am looking forward to equally outstanding finale in Mumbai.”
Prabhu Srinivasan, CEO, KOOH Sports: “Speedstar was conceptualized in 2012 with an intent to motivate kids and encourage schools to partake in athletics. The ‘Speedstar’ initiative is a movement to generate interest and awareness for the most natural form of sport – Running. With the hunt we would like to bring the concept of “athlete first, sportsman later” in the mainstream sports training. The first season witnessed an overwhelming response and we came across kids with huge potential. This year we will be considering adopting talent for further education/training in athletics.”
Air Marshal Denzil Keelor, Chairman, Special Olympics Bharat: “We are very excited to be a part of Speedstar. Our association with KOOH Sports is forged to support each other for unified development of sports at the grass root levels in India. Our movement at SOB uses sports as a catalyst to transform the lives of children with intellectual disability. Through initiatives like Speedstar our children will get a great platform to showcase their talent.”
About Speedstar Season 2:
Sharon Hannan (world renowned Australian coach and ex-coach of London Olympics 2012 Gold medalist Sally Pearson) is the Mentor of Speedstar event. This event is held under the aegis of Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Moreover, with Speedstar season 2, KOOH Sports for the first time in India, will bring forth a unified athletics event in partnership with Special Olympics Bharat- a sports body dedicated to intellectually disabled children.
Speedstar Season 2 will identify 8 of the fastest boys and girls under 4 age categories (Under 10, 12, 14, 16) in the country. In this edition, Speedstar will conduct the event across 10 cities – Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Jalandhar, Pune, Goa, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
The winners from each city will be called for the finale to be held on February 9th, 2014 in Mumbai. The final winners of Speedstar season 2 will get a chance to train in Australia with Sharon Hannan. Griffith University will host the winners and also conduct master classes for them.
