CHENNAI, NOV 5 :The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) students’ sports activities got a boost with the inauguration of ‘Sitara Indoor Sports Complex’ in the campus on Monday.

This facility supplements the current sports facilities, which include basketball, volleyball, football and cricket grounds besides the Gymkhana Sports Complex and the Swimming Pool, among other sports facilities, a release from IIT-Madras said today.

This new complex houses four state-of-the-art badminton courts, a gallery in the mezzanine floor, and multiple table tennis courts besides an open tennis court in the terrace. This sports facility results from the philanthropic efforts of an anonymous donor who is an alumnus of IIT Madras.

The Sports Complex was inaugurated in the presence of Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, by Table Tennis Champion Sharath Kamal, who is a Padma Shri Awardee and a five-time Olympian, former Davis cupper Somdev Devvarman and Padma Shri awardee, besides Ms. Manisha Ramadoss, Bronze medallist at the Paralympic Badminton Championship, Paris 2024.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Kamakoti said, “The day is not far off when IIT Madras will have an Olympian as an alumnus. Five National Champions have been admitted under the ‘Sports Excellence Admission’ of IIT Madras, and sure we will be admitting many more sportspersons in this category. I would like to see this facility completely full all evenings. We will bring national champions and others with exceptional skills so that IIT Madras students get the opportunity to play with the best and improve their standards.”

“This Sports facility is only the beginning with many more such facilities being planned including a new state-of-the-art swimming pool to replace the existing one. We will consistently keep improving the quality of the facilities to that we move towards international standards in terms of the courts, the equipment and the training. We are very committed to sports. IIT Madras also has established the Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA).”

IIT Madras is the first IIT in the country to introduce admissions for sportspersons in its undergraduate programmes. The Institute introduced the ‘Sports Excellence Admission’ (SEA) from the current academic year of 2024-25.

This building also houses the Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics headed by Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Department of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering.

This Centre aims to take the lead in creating a support infrastructure for Sports Tech for various players in India by creating awareness about opportunities in this space, showcasing some products and applications, enabling networking opportunities for various players and bringing both public and private players under one roof to enable collaboration opportunities.