Badminton
Girl power is Gold power ft. Ashwini Ponnappa & Sikki Reddy
Kotak Mahindra Bank is encouraging the ambition of promising young champions, in collab with the Gopichand Academy.
The Tokyo Olympics is less than 10 days away and like every time, everyone is abuzz with excitement. However, unlike any other year, this time expectations on the Indian contingent are higher than ever.
India is projected to break the record for most medals hauled at any Olympic Games. Until now, the country's best tally was at the London Olympics in 2012 with six medals.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, again, hopes were high but mostly, the Indian athletes disappointed. The only two medals were won by two women, Sakshi Malik in wrestling and PV Sindhu in badminton.
Truth is, in recent years, the encroachment of the nation's sportswomen has seen a sharp spike.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (KMBL) released the "Girl Power is Gold Power" video as a part of their initiative to promote female athletes via Kotak Karma.
The video features star Indian shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa, a World Championship bronze medallist, and N Sikki Reddy, Gold medalist at the South Asian Games 2016. It carries a special message that honours young women who chase their dreams no matter how crazy they may be labelled, no matter the stigmas, no matter what society says. It heralds young women who want to follow in the footsteps of Ashwini and Sikki.
The one-minute film also pays tribute to those who support these young, crazy dreamers, the family members and the coaches, who often sacrifice almost as much as these athletes to help pave the way to their glory.
"Every empowered child is a product of an enlightened ecosystem – comprising family, friends and acquaintances who have extended their support. With the world's biggest sporting event upon us, this is a good time to remind us all that investing in the dreams and aspirations of the next generation can give us returns beyond measure," Rohit Rao, Joint President & Group Chief CSR Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited stated at the campaign launch.
Kotak Karma is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) identity of the Kotak Mahindra Group. Under its CSR Projects on Sports, KMBL has collaborated with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation based in Gachibowli, Telangana to develop a state-of-the-art badminton training facility with advanced infrastructure and amenities, and international standard coaches that will help India produce more world-class players. Both the athletes featured in the film train at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation.
