The newly-formed AITA Trust on Wednesday awarded scholarships of Rs 1 lakh each to 16 players in the Under-14 category for the next one year.
A panel comprising former Davis Cuppers Balram Singh and Vishal Uppal along with former Fed Cup player Ankita Bhambri selected eight boys and as many girls from a group of competitors, recommended by 15 state associations.
The selected players were handed cheques of Rs 50,000 right away along with certificates and the rest of the amount will be given in two installments.
Depending upon the performance, the scholarships will be extended to the deserving kids.
AITA Trust member N K Batra said the performance of the selected players will be monitored by the same selection panel and they would also seek progress report from players' personal coaches.
He also said AITA Trust junior team will take shape soon and they facilitate players' participation at the ITF Junior tournaments.
Balram, who is also a member of the national selection panel, said they have not looked at just the match result but also fitness and conduct of the players while deciding the winners.
Uppal said the junior players made their job tough since selecting only 16 kids became a challenge.
"A few kids were really surprise packages. We discussed for more than three hours before final selection."
Uppal urged the players to show hunger for success and never compromise on hardwork since just the forehands and backhands won't make them good players.
The players' fitness was assessed by Abhimanyu, who has worked with India's top players such as Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri.
Selected Under-14 players:
Boys: Yuvan Nandal, Aayush Bhat, Manas Dhamne, L N Nithis Baalaji, Arunava Majumdar, Samarpit Sharma, Ayushman Arejeria and Rushil Khosla.
Girls: Shruti Ahlawat, Suhitra Maruri, Ruma Gaikaiwari, Bandaru Kundana Sri, Sweta Samanta, Riya Sachdeva, Amishi Shukla, Veda Raju Prapurna.
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