Kolkata, Oct 28: Merlin Group has unveiled its coveted association with World famous sports icons – Midfielder Maestro Ronaldinho, the most decorated Olympian of all time and Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, India’s cricketing icon and a passionately dedicated cricketer Yuvraj Singh and fitness icon ‘Tiger Shroff.
The greenfield sports-themed township “ Merlin RISE- The Sports Republic “ will house the state of the art Football Academy of Ronaldinho – R10 Football Academy; The swimming academy of Michael Phelps “Michael Phelps Swimming”; India’s state of the art “MMA MATRIX Training Centre” BY Tiger Shroff and the cricket academy of Yuvraj Singh – The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE).
Spread over a sprawling area IN Rajarhat, the project christened as “RISE – Sports Republic” is a self-sufficient township with all amenities required for today’s modern living. The project is poised to develop 10,000 flats with an approximate population density of 35000 at Rajarhat Chowmatha.
The R10 football academy and The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE) will be operational within the next 5 months. The Michael Phelps Swimming and MMA MATRIX Training Centre by Tiger Shroff will be active in the next year. The academies will follow a thorough and complete training curriculum, techniques, learning modules and overall infrastructural facilities as per the guidelines of these academies. This will help them bring out the hidden talent from different segments of the population.
The Sports Township of Merlin is equipped with a football all-weather ground, where 2 matches of 5 a side and also 7 A-side and 9 a side can be played at one time along with world-class training to be imparted by R10 Academy of Ronaldinho. The sports city will have Indoor nets/pitches to practice during bad weather and 2 outdoor pitches on the field with all the updated equipment and technologies to be imparted by YSCE.
In Swimming, Merlin Sports township will house a swimming pool at the rooftop of the Sports Club where training will be provided Under the training and programme of the G.O.A.T swimmer of the world “ Michael Fred Phelps”.
The sports city will have a state of the art gymnasium with updated equipment, proper training and diet guidance along with the provision of MMA MATRIX (Mixed Martial Arts) and other facilities where one can accomplish to be the best athlete.
“The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE) The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE) is the culmination of many years of toil & sweat from a passionately dedicated cricketer YUVRAJ SINGH who has become one of India’s cricketing icons. We are happy to be associated with Merlin Group to set up The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE) in the Rise-Sports Republic, a township being developed by Merlin Group in Kolkata. This will be the first academy by YSCE in Eastern India. We will groom every aspiring cricketer in Bengal from a grass root level to the highest standards along with fitness & passion. We want to make accessible the best infrastructure for cricket aspirants in every city and bring the best opportunities for every legend”, said, Simarjit Singh, COO, YSCE

” We at Merlin are privileged to announce the coveted association with academies of internationally acclaimed sports icons – Soccer Maestro Ronaldinho, Cricketing icon Yuvraj Singh, World’s swimming legend Michael Phelps. We are also extremely delighted to announce our association with the fitness icon Tiger Shroff. West Bengal as well as India is the treasure-trove of untrained talents in sports. There is no dearth of talent but I sensed a sports infrastructure gap in Bengal. There is a dire need for identifying and grooming talents from the grassroots level. This motivated me to set up a world-class sports infrastructure and sports academies of internationally acclaimed brands to nurture the talents. The academies will hire international supervisors and coaches who will nurture the talent pool, train them and take them to the next level to possibly represent the state or district or nation. We will try our best to assist needy yet talented youngsters. As a responsible corporate, we had a vision of setting up a project that will serve our society. I hope these academies and MMA training centres will provide a platform for our aspiring kids and youngsters to fulfil their dream and passion for sports. Our dream is to create world-class cricketers, footballers and swimmers who can represent the nation and even win more accolades in Olympics and international sporting tournaments. In future, we may come up with other academies in other sports areas in the project. We have chosen the land bank available in Rajarhat Bishnupur which is the upcoming hotspot destination,” said Saket Mohta, Managing Director, Merlin Group

“Children these days are glued to the screens, be it phones, television or computers. Digital media and Television have facilitated the flow of information a lightning speed in the internet age, but overexposure to digital media also is causing an extremely negative impact on children and kids. Gone are the days when children used to grow playing football, cricket, hockey or any other physical games. Ironically they are playing these games on the screens of their mobile phones. This trend is quite dangerous and also deterring their physical and mental growth. `Rise’ with excellent facilities will attract these children to the playground. This will provide the much-needed fillip to the holistic growth of children”, added Saket Mohta.
The first phase of the mammoth township project will witness the development of 2529 flats. Out of these, 968 apartments will be sold through lottery now. There will be 2BHK apartments @ Rs 29 LACS & 32 Lacs on Down payment & Installment scheme and 3BHK apartments @- 35.5 LACS & 39.5 Lacs on Down payment & Installment scheme.20% of the first phase of the sports township will be invested in developing sports academies, Martial art training centre and sports-related infrastructural facilities that include Cricket Ground, Football Ground, Indoor sports area, swimming pool and a host of other amenities.
The second phase of the project will witness the launch of a multispecialty hospital, a school of international repute. A retail block with hypermarkets from organized retail giants and offices with co-working space will be also there as part of the township. The township will also include facilities for other sports activities like Basketball, Badminton, Squash, Table Tennis.(UNI)