Lakshya Institute and Dream Sports Foundation launch ‘One Dream, One Lakshya’ to support future Indian Olympians
DREAM SPORTS FOUNDATION
Under the program, seven promising athletes with Olympics prospects across shooting, boxing, wrestling, badminton and table tennis have been identified for end-to-end training and support
Mumbai, September 3, 2021: The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar winner, Lakshya Institute, at a press conference today launched “One Dream, One Lakshya” (ODOL) in partnership with Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, to support seven promising athletes across five sports. The ODOL program is designed to identify and provide holistic and comprehensive support to potential Indian Olympians on their journey to win laurels for the country through quality coaching, financial aid, training equipment, national and international tournament exposures. The program was inaugurated in the presence of Sunder Iyer, Hon. Sec. Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association and Kiran Vivekananda, Chief Policy Officer at Dream Sports & Head at Dream Sports Foundation.
Through this partnership, DSF, which has supported Indian athletes like Nethra Kumanan to reach the Tokyo Olympics, and Lakshya Institute will provide intensive training for the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympics to all the selected athletes among the five sports disciplines, namely shooting, boxing, wrestling, badminton and table tennis.
| State | Athlete | Sport | Achievement |
| Maharashtra | Nupur Patil (19 yrs) | Shooting, 10m air rifle | India youth rank 1 |
| Maharashtra | Devika Ghorpade (16 yrs) | Boxing, 50 Kgs | Junior National Champion, a semi-finalist at Asian Junior Boxing Championship in 2021 |
| Maharashtra | Tara Shah (16 yrs) | Badminton, singles | India U-17 rank 1, won the gold medal in U-19 at 10th Multi Alarm Hungarian International Junior Championship in 2020 |
| Telangana | Sreeja Akula (22 yrs) | Table Tennis, singles | India rank 1, a quarterfinalist at WTT Contender Budapest tournament in 2021 |
| Telangana | Riya Habbu (22 yrs) | Badminton, singles | won a silver medal in the Khelo India U-17 category in 2020 |
| Haryana | Nupur Sheoran (22 yrs) | Boxing, 75 Kgs | India rank 2, Women’s Boxing National Champion |
| Haryana | Sunil Kumar (22 yrs) | Greco-Roman Wrestling, 87 Kgs | India rank 1, represented India at World and Asian Olympic Qualifiers in 2021 |
Talking about the impact of the partnership with the Dream Sports Foundation, Vishal Chordia, President of Lakshya Foundation, said, “In a year where most corporates are withdrawing CSR support to sports, we are happy that Dream Sports Foundation has come forward to support Lakshya through the unique program, ‘One Dream, One Lakshya’. We hope that this long term vision will surely see many more Indian players achieve their best and win medals for the country in the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. I’m sure we will be able to support many more players under this partnership in the coming years.”
Speaking about the program, Kiran Vivekananda, Chief Policy Officer at Dream Sports & Head at Dream Sports Foundation, said, “The pandemic has impeded basic training for many talented athletes. However, through collaborations between different not-for-profit sports organisations, we are ensuring that our athletes continue training and winning accolades for India. Our program, ODOL, will provide the necessary support to help promising young athletes to reach their full potential and represent India on a global stage.”
Recently, Dream Sports Foundation partnered with Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation (MKRBF) and Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) to support talented and budding athletes in training, educational and financial assistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DSF also supported over 3500 beneficiaries from the sports industry impacted by the crisis as part of the ongoing ‘Back on Track’ initiative. Since its inception, DSF has reached over 6000 sports beneficiaries in India.
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About Lakshya: Started in 2010, with a mission to nurture budding talent in sports, Lakshya aims to bridge the gap between the aspirations and realizations of sports talent in the country. A professionally managed not-for-profit organization, Lakshya has extended holistic support to more than 80 sports persons from eight different disciplines Lakshya ensures world-class training to the players that will help in enhancing their performance in the respective sports. The player management team supervises
physical fitness, mental toughness, injury management and diet requirements of all the players. A majority of our players have represented India at the highest level in the international circuit and have won many accolades, making the country proud. Five of our players have represented India in the 2012 London Olympics, Seven at Rio Olympics 2016 and two at Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games, Australia. Seven Lakshya Supported Players will represent India at the Tokyo Olympics 2021.
About Dream Sports Foundation: Dream Sports Foundation (DSF) is the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, India’s leading sports tech company with brands such as Dream11, FanCode and Dream Capital in its portfolio. DSF aims to positively impact the growth of sports in India and provide sustainable growth impetus to deserving individuals, societies, bodies or organisations working towards the development of sports and the sports ecosystem of India. Some of the key sports development initiatives under DSF include Back-On-Track, a program that aids vulnerable athletes, sports professionals and academies financially, Stars of Tomorrow, young elite athlete training program, and Hi5 Youth Foundation, grassroots development basketball program for underprivileged children. To support talented and budding young athletes, DSF partnered with Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation and Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools by providing training, education and financial assistance. For more information, visit www.dsf.org.in