Apollo Selects Second Year’s Shortlist for Mission 2018

The second year of short-listing for the Apollo Tyres’ “Mission 2018” tennis scheme concluded on the weekend of December 21-22 in Hyderabad, India, with the induction of 15 children from across the country. This number adds to last year’s 21 children who have been training over the past 12 months at the FIST Academy in Bangalore, taking the total number of Apollo Tyres tennis scholarships to 36.

Speaking on behalf of Apollo Tyres, Avik Chattopadhyay, head of Corporate Marketing and project lead for Apollo Tyres Mission 2018, said: “It’s been an amazing journey this year. We had six, seven and eight year olds participating in the selection camps from across the country. We also had participation from an NRI from Tanzania and few of them coming all the way from places like Imphal and Jorhat. This batch will further enrich the programme and Mission 2018’s prospect of bringing Grand Slam glory to India.”

Indian tennis ace and Apollo’s partner in Mission 2018, Mahesh Bhupathi, managing director of Globosport, commented “This time the selection process has been even more difficult. But we are very happy with the kind of children we have picked this year, where there are a few children who have already been making a mark in the Under 12 and Under 14 tournaments. From last year’s batch we can see the difference that can be made if there is a team dedicated to talented children and their tennis needs; this ensures that their progress is much better.”