Coimbatore : A Coimbatore lad, Sai Praavin is among the 14 young badminton players selected to undergo intensive training at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

Sai Praavin is a fourth standard student and an ardent fan of Kidambi Srikanth. The selection was done under IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence Young Champs and was announced last night.

After a rigorous evaluation process, these talented young players, aged between 7 -11 years, have been selected purely on the basis of their performance, fitness,attitude, agility, and footwork, a release from IDBI Federal said.

During the next stage of the programme, the YoungChamps will get training at the Academy for two weeks during the summer and winter vacations respectively.

During this four-week, the kids will get an opportunity to learn new techniques and master various skills and in order to strengthen their technical and tactical skills, special coaches will be assigned to test the physical and mental strength of each kid with a focus on their behaviour, discipline and fair play.

The kids will also be able to interact with and observe the country’s top national and international players at the Academy which will inspire and motivate them to train harder, it said.

At the end of the training, based on Gopichand and his team’s evaluation of their overall performance, fitness and commitment, the talented kids could receive an opportunity to train permanently at the Academy which will be sponsored by the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence programme.