By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Harilal Ramavath, a student of Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential School, Balanagar, has created a unique record by becoming the first student from the State to secure admission into the National Sports University in Imphal, Manipur. What’s is more, he clinched the all-India rank three in the national-level entrance exam conducted by the university.

Harilal Ramavath son of a handicapped father and labourer mother, Harilal hails from a tribal hamlet in Nagarkurnool district. “I always dreamt of becoming an athlete. My goal is to secure an Olympic gold medal in athletics and make the country and Telangana proud,” says Harilal. He added that his family background never acted as a deterrent but pushed him to work twice as hard to make it to the sports university.

Harilal’s selection also comes as a victory for the State’s Tribal Welfare schools. RS Praveen Kumar, Secretary of Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TTWREIS) congratulated Harilal for his remarkable feat and said, “For the first time in the history of public sector education in India, the TTWREIS established sports academies and created an infrastructure required to groom budding sports stars into national and international medallists.”

He further added that the launch of academies for various sports like judo, karate, horseback riding, wrestling, chess, athletics, boxing, archery, swimming and other water sports, has been crucial in cultivating a new generation of sportspersons. “In a few years, we would see students from tribal welfare institutions of the State, making an inedible mark in the field of Indian and international sports,” he added.