State stars aim to shine at Kazan

High jumper Chetan B along with swimmers Rohit Havaldar and Pooja R Alva will be part of the Indian team at the 27th World Universiad to be held in Kazan, Russia, from July 6 to 17.

Alva, who is from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), will also have university-mates diver Nammi Divya Teja and swimmer Ashwin Menon for company at the big event.

Bangalore University’s Havaldar and Chetan were all excited with the prospect of competing at the event.

Havaldar, who has represented India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in Guangzhou (China), was optimistic about a good show.

“I’ll look to give my best performance and hope to do well,” the backstroker said at a press meet here.

Bangalore University has decided to bear the expenses of the two sportspersons for the biennial event after the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) sent them a letter assuring a reimbursement. The total amount will be over Rs 3 lakh.

Havaldar was happy with the help provided by the University. “They (University) have made all the arrangements at such a short notice, I am thankful they got the funds released soon,’’ added Havaldar, who is in the final year of Masters in Finance and Accounts at Presidency College.

Chetan is over the moon as he gears up for his first international assignment.  
“It will be a great experience for me to compete with athletes from so many universities from around the world, I’ll try to learn as much as I can,’’ the 21-year-old Hoskote lad said.  

Chetan, who secured the bronze medal at the 2012 Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championship, was also appreciative of the University’s efforts in sponsoring the athletes for the big event.

Havaldar will join the swimmers’ training camp for the event at Kalyani University in Kolkata on Wednesday while Chetan will attend the camp for athletes at the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad. 

Both the camps that began on June 12 will conclude on July 3 after which the team will depart for Russia from New Delhi. 

India won two gold and a bronze at the last Summer Universiade at 2011 in Shenzen,China.