Fri Aug 01 18:53:54 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:

**Telangana High Court Slams Sports Authority, Orders Compensation for Chess Player Denied College Seat**

**Hyderabad, August 2, 2025** – The Telangana High Court has strongly criticized the Sports Authority of Telangana (SAST), calling its actions a “classic example of apathy” towards encouraging sports in the country. The court has ordered SAST to compensate a teenage chess player who was unfairly denied an engineering college seat under the sports quota.

Justice T. Vinod Kumar delivered the verdict after hearing a writ petition filed by M. Shreeshwan, a promising chess player from Miyapur. Shreeshwan, who secured a rank of 15,884 in the TS-EAPCET-2024 exam, applied for admission to a computer science program under the sports quota, citing his impressive achievements, including a third-place finish at the Asian Youth Chess Championship in 2019. He was even awarded the title of ‘International Master of Chess Champion’ by FIDE. Furthermore, the Sports Authority itself awarded him a cash prize of ₹1 lakh.

Despite these accolades, SAST and JNTU deemed Shreeshwan “ineligible” for the sports quota based on interpretations of government orders. Justice Kumar condemned this decision, highlighting the irony of SAST awarding the student a cash prize while simultaneously claiming he didn’t qualify for the sports quota.

The court found that SAST’s evaluation committees conducted a superficial review of the student’s documents without even seeking clarification from the All India Chess Federation. Justice Kumar questioned the wisdom of entrusting the selection of sports quota candidates to what he called “an irresponsible organization like the Sports Authority.”

As a result of SAST’s failure to select him under the sports quota, Shreeshwan was forced to secure a seat through the merit quota. To rectify this injustice, Justice Kumar ordered SAST to compensate the student for the difference in fees he paid for the merit quota seat.

The ruling serves as a sharp rebuke to the Sports Authority of Telangana and underscores the need for a more diligent and supportive approach to nurturing young athletes in the state.

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