press release
Dipika Pallikal in the finals of the British Junior Open
Well great news coming out of the British Junior Open in Sheffield, Dipika who won the tournament last year is again in the final where she plays Low Wee Wern of Malaysia.
Dipika beat her nemesis Heba El-Torky (EGY) in a rematch of last years final in a close 11/9, 14/12, 9/11, 14/12 encounter.
Dipika has had a great 2008 after her BJO win and is at career high rankings in the senior WISPA rankings also where she is currently ranked 51 in the world. This should give her some good momentum for a very successful 2009 in the WISPA circuit and we at the Mittal Champions Trust are very proud of her.
Mittal Champions Trust presented 1.5 crore to Bindra
Abhinav Bindra, the current World and Olympic champion in the 10m Air Rifle event, was honored by the Mittal Champions Trust today, at the Oberoi Hotel, Delhi. Mr. Amit Bhatia, Trustee of the Mittals Champions Trust presented a cash award of Rs 1.5 crores to the Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra.
During the felicitation, Mr. Amit Bhatia said, "Abhinav has created history for our country and we are extremely proud of his achievement. We hope that he serves as an example for the many future champions who work hard towards their goals. We are committed to the Trust's ethos to groom India's most talented athletes for London 2012 and Abhinav's accomplishments have encouraged us in our mission. We congratulate Abhinav and all the other athletes that made our nation proud, and gave us our best Olympic result. He and all others deserve the recognition and accolades that crown their achievement."
Expressing happiness over the splendid performance of Bindra, Indian tennis ace and Trustee of the Mittal Champions Trust, Mahesh Bhupathi said,'' "Having seen first hand the work and commitment Abhinav has put in he deserves all the accolades. We are extremely proud of him and are looking forward to seeing atop many more podia in the future."
The Mittal Champions Trust supports and funds talented sportspersons and potential Olympic medal winners to enable them to access the best specialists in the world. Their mandate is to take care of the needs of future champions, so that they can compete with the best in the world on a level playing field. The trust was set up by steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal with the sole objective of promoting excellence in sports in India. At present, the trust is supporting athletes in squash, archery, boxing, shooting, swimming, athletics and sailing.
MCT Congratulates Abhinav Bindra
The Mittal Champions Trust is delighted to have been involved in aiding the first individual gold for India. The Trust was set up to give the final crucial boost to athletes who have been unable to succeed at the Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra's success encourages us to continue providing crucial financial and technical inputs necessary to bridge the gap between winning and plain competing.
An ecstatic Mr.LN Mittal said: "I am absolutely delighted that Abhinav has won India's first individual gold at the Olympics. This is a great day for Indian sport and I hope it will act as motivation for the Indian team participating at this event. The Mittal Champions Trust was set up to improve India's performance at major sporting events and to have such a result at the first Olympics since the trust's inception is a magnificent result."
MCT was set up in November 2005 to deliver results right from the Beijing Olympics with the 2012 London Games as the primary objective. The Trust is spearheaded by Mr. Amit Bhatia who was personally pained that there were no Indians on the gold medal tally in Athens. "From that moment the idea of the Trust came about and we are glad that we have been able to help a talented hard-working athlete like Abhinav to embrace his dreams. We are further motivated to increase our to future mould future champions," said Mr.Bhatia.
All along MCT has had two parallel programmes aimed at honing the best of present talent while looking to groom the next rung. We will be further enhancing our involvement in grass root development in the coming months. "Abhinav is a stepping stone for Indian sport and we have to build upon this to create more winners in the future," says Manisha Malhotra, administrator MCT.
Abhinav himself said that "he would like to thank MCT for all the help and support over the last couple of years and hopes they will be able to win many more gold medals over the next few days."
Sushma Singh is the latest athlete to be signed on by the Mittal Champions Trust.
Sushma is an up and coming pistol shooter who missed out a qualification spot to Beijing by a whisker.
We feel that there needs to be a push made for our Indian Pistol shooters who have been on the periphery for a long time now but have never been able to break through to the Olympic level.
The Mittal Champions Trust feels like there is a huge potential for shooters like Sushma and we are now looking forward to London 2012.
For further information, please contact:
Manisha Malhotra
Mittal Champions Trust
Ph # : +91 98201 91948
Email : manisha@mittalchampionstrust.com