Nandini becomes first female TS athlete to enter U20 World Championship final

Hyderabad: The 19-year-old athlete, Agasara Nandini, became the first female athlete from Telangana to qualify for the finals at the U20 Junior World Athletics Championship on 6 August.

A student of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), Nandini broke her own 100m hurdles national record of 13.58 seconds by clocking 13.34 seconds at the U20 World Championship at Cali in Columbia on Saturday.

The final race is scheduled to take place at around 1:30 a.m (IST) on 7 August.

"I am very happy I got selected for the finals. I never expected it," said an excited Nandini over the phone.

This is Nandini's second time at the Junior World Athletics Championship. In 2021, she attended the U20 World Championship held in Nairobi, Kenya, where she came sixth in the semi-finals.

Nandini completed her intermediate from TSWREIS Narsingi in June 2022. Her father runs a tea shop and her mother is a homemaker. She faced financial challenges throughout her life.

The minister for Scheduled Caste development, Koppula Eeshwar, and TSWREIS secretary Ronald Ross congratulated Nandini for her brilliant performance at the U-20 World Athletics Championship and wished her good luck.

Mr. Ross hoped Nandini would bring glory to the state. "Nandini, a tea seller's daughter, defied extreme financial constraints to make it to the international level. Her life is a source of inspiration to thousands of marginalised girls in the state," he said.

He advised girls, particularly from rural and marginalised backgrounds, to make extra efforts to overcome hardships and inhibitions and become successful in various fields.

Mr. Ross thanked the Telangana government and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for launching 28 sports academies. He said the academies have been training talented athletes under the guidance of the finest coaches of national repute.