Noida’s 13-yr-old tennis prodigy to receive PM Rashtriya Bal Shakti award

Thirteen-year-old Rushil Khosla is finding it difficult to contain his excitement these days. The tennis prodigy will receive the Prime Minister Rashtriya Bal Shakti

Thirteen-year-old Rushil Khosla is finding it difficult to contain his excitement these days. The tennis prodigy will receive the Prime Minister Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar at Rashtrapati Bhawan on January 22, 2020.

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Rushil is the only Indian player in Asian Tennis Federation’s top 10 list and has maintained his number 1 rank in the under-14 years (boys) category for the past year.

A resident of Ram Vihar in Noida’s Sector 30, Rushil was seven years old when he first started playing. According to his family, it was his older sister who used to play tennis and Rushil would simply follow her around. Later, when they saw his interest in the game grow, they requested the coach to start training him as well.

“I am thrilled to be a part of this. I will also participate in the dress rehearsal and the Republic Day parade this year,” Rushil, a class 8 student of DPS Noida (Sector 30), said.

The recipient of the Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar also receives a cash prize of ₹1 lakh.

Last year on August 29, which is celebrated as Indian National Sports Day, Rushil had also achieved the upcoming international player award from district magistrate BN Singh.

Rushil was also one of the eight kids to be selected for a scholarship under a trust development program of the All India Tennis Association in 2019.

As much as they are proud of Rushil’s achievements, his family wishes his schedule could give him more free time.

“He practices in the morning after which he attends school and then he practices till evening. Between academics and his tournaments, he doesn’t get much time to do anything else,” Rajni Khosla, Rushil’ mother, said. She said that his academic schedule has been flexible in order to focus more time on the game.

In 2019, Rushil was on tour for 30 weeks and had managed to win 23 tournaments( both national and international).