JSW Sports have signed young Delhi high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who recently won silver at the South Asian Games, under the company's flagship Sports Excellence Programme.
The 17-year-old and 6-feet tall has become the SEP's 37th and the seventh track and field athlete to be supported under the programme, said a media release today.
Tejaswin is considered one of India's most talented high-jumpers. A budding fast bowler, he only took to the high jump a couple of years ago to increase strength.
His exploits at the South Asian Games, the 2015 World Youth Championships and the 2015 Asian Youth Championships have led to experts touting him as someone to really watch out for.
At the 2016 SAF Games, Tejaswin's leap of 2.17m was equal to what eventual gold medallist, Sri Lankan Olympian WP Manjula Kumara, logged, but a foul that the youngster committed on his first jump saw him miss out on the gold.
Mustafa Ghouse, CEO JSW Sports, said that SEP would do all it can to ensure that Tejaswin maximises his potential.
"Within limited means, Tejaswin has come up with impressive results and has shown immense potential. We at JSW are very happy to work with an athlete like Tejaswin who has the requisite intelligence and also the physical attributes to develop into a world-class high-jumper," he said.
Tejaswin said he was very happy to have signed up with the JSW-SEP and was looking forward to working with the highly-qualified staff attached to the programme.
"It is a big step for me to sign up with a program that is so well-rounded. I do not have to take care of peripheral factors and can concentrate on my training, conditioning and on the quest to get better. I am happy to be part of a program which counts so many of India's elite athletes as its part," he said.
