“Every athlete is made to feel special at the Khelo India Games,” says Shrivalli Rashmikaa

The budding tennis player is representing Osmania University at the Khelo India University Games 2021

Khelo India: Telangana-based tennis player Shrivalli Rashmikaa has been making waves in the Junior Tennis circuit in India for several years. The 20-year-old already has two AITA Junior National Championships to her name and holds the distinction of winning an invitational event staged by Roland-Garros in India in 2018, wherein winners of the competition got an opportunity to compete in Paris for a wildcard entry into the Junior Roland-Garros main draw. Rashmikaa has also been a semifinalist at an ITF Grade 3 event and is only focused on going from strength to strength in her fledgling tennis career.

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One to watch out for in the Girls draw, Rashmikaa is set to represent Osmania University, Hyderabad in the Khelo India University Games 2021.

Speaking about her experience so far at the Khelo India Games platform, Rashmikaa said, “It’s not easy to organise such a big multi-sport event, but everything over here has been arranged with careful precision and the organisers have done an incredible job. Even with the accommodation at the facility, the players get to experience the ‘Art of Living’ phase, which helps players meditate and is important to develop the mental aspect of the game.”

“I have played in multiple inter University Games before, but this is a different platform. The importance given to each sport is what sets this platform apart, and every athlete is made to feel special here. They make you feel like you are one of the big players here,” she added.

Speaking about the Khelo India University Games platform from the players’ perspective, Rashmikaa said, “This platform provides a lot of motivation to the players to compete. A lot of players who are in universities and want to turn pro in their sport feel like they are running out of time to do so and need to focus more on their academics, but what these Games do is provide the players a platform to see where they stand, test their level, and identify the aspects they need to work more on. You get confidence from winning matches at this stage, and even when you lose, you learn what you need to work on. Therefore, continuing to organize these Games will eventually raise the level of competition and no one is going to take sports lightly.”

Displaying an air of confidence in her body language, Rashmikaa spoke about her goals at the Khelo India University Games 2021.

“We (Osmania University, Hyderabad) are here to win. It’s important for the University and for us to prove ourselves all the time because we have good competition here,” she asserted.

About Khelo India University Games 2021:

The second edition of the Khelo India University Games will be hosted in Bengaluru with Jain Deemed-to-be University as the host University for the Games. The competition, which is being organized by the Government of Karnataka, along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, will be held from 24th April to 3rd May 2022.

KIUG 2021 will witness over 4,500 participants from around 190 universities battle it out across 20 disciplines, which include indigenous sports like Mallakhamba and yogasana.

A first-of-its-kind mobile application has also been developed for the Games which will facilitate the participants during their time in the tournament.

The Khelo India University Games aims to provide a platform for University students to showcase their talent and catch the eyeballs of the national team selectors for various sports.