Banny Bongur and Akshay Kumar

Special moment: Akshay and Banny of The Yacht Club, centre, with parents and coach Suheim Sheikh after being shortlisted by the Army Boys Sports School.

For 13-year-old Banny Bongur and Akshay Kumar of Telangana, it was a dream come true when the two young sailors will be drafted into the Boys Sports Company in Bengaluru.

The 13-year-old Banny is born in a farmer’s family in Zaheerabad and Akshay, also 13, is a driver’s son and it is a tribute to their determination in making it to big in the sub-junior fleet of regatta, training in the Hussain Sagar Lake here under the mentorship of Suheim Sheikh, president and head coach of Yacht Club of Hyderabad.

The success story of the two sailors, who are students of IIM Ahmedabad Alumni supported Udbhav School at Rasoolpura (Secunderabad) could well be another reminder of how some of the young sporting talent brushes aside hurdles, he said.

Akshay is a quiet and unassuming boy and ranked 15th in India and was selected because of a well earned athletic build and good fitness apart from sailing well during the selection process, said Suheim Sheikh, who is also the head coach.

In a way, sailors Gowtham Kankatla and Durga Prasad, who were also products of Udbhav School and now officers in the Navy, are an inspiration for these two sailors.

“Yes, they will be waiting for the actual call letter from the Army Selection Committee at Delhi post approval by the Sports Authority of India,” the head coach said.

“The preliminary selection of these two sailors caps the induction of 21 boys before them from the Yacht Club who are mostly still studying at the Army and Navy Sailing Schools,” he said.

“This feat by Banny and Akshay truly vindicates our tag-line ‘Dignity Through Sports’ as the idea of setting up a sailing facility for the poor was to enable marginalised youth to exhibit talent and make lucrative careers to help lift a generation our of poverty,” Suheim said.

“Once they receive the call letter, Banny and Akshay will move to Bangalore and study at the Kendriya Vidyalaya while being trained to sail by Army Coaches from the MEG centre and Trishna Sailing Club at Mysore,” he said.

“Hopefully, thereafter Banny and Akshay will put up impressive national and international performances and make it big on the international stage.”