Mon Jan 20 18:35:16 UTC 2025: ## IIT Madras Welcomes First Sports Excellence Students
**Chennai, January 21, 2025** – The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has welcomed its first cohort of five student-athletes under a new “Sports Excellence Admission” category. This initiative, a first among IITs, allocates two additional undergraduate seats—one specifically for women—in each program to recognize and support athletic achievement.
The five students, all nationally accomplished in their respective sports, were admitted in July 2024. They are: Arohi Bhave (volleyball), Aryaman Mandal (water polo), Nandini Jain (squash), Prabhav Gupta (table tennis), and Vaangala Vedavachan Reddy (lawn tennis). They will pursue various undergraduate programs, including BS Medical Science and Engineering, and B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, AI and Data Science.
IIT-M Director V. Kamakoti emphasized the program’s goal of encouraging children’s participation in sports. The selection process, separate from the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSSA), involved reviewing applications from JEE (Advanced) qualified students. Mahesh Panchagnula, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics, confirmed the successful completion of the first admissions cycle.
First Piper 