On his way to Tirupati in July 2024 to pray for his success in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, Vangala Vedavachan Reddy, 17, received a “life-changing” call from Professor V Kamakoti, director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

He informed Vangala that he was admitted to the institute’s BTech in artificial intelligence (AI) and data sciences programme under its Sports Excellence Admission (SEA) scheme. For Vangala, the call meant that he no longer had to choose between his academic dreams and his love for lawn tennis.

“That was the best day of my life. If it wasn’t for SEA, I would be pursuing computer science at (IIT) Patna,” says Vangala, who won a national championship in 2018.

Like him, four other athletes were admitted to IIT-Madras last year under SEA. Launched in 2024, the scheme is a game changer for academically gifted athletes since it offers them supernumerary seats and a chance to continue their athletic careers. Of the 22 IITs in India, only IIT-Madras offers this scheme at present.

Mahesh Panchagnula, head, Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA), IIT-Madras, says, “We admitted our first batch under the programme in July 2024.”

IIT-Madras started the sports complex in July-August 2024 and invested around Rs 25 crore in the infrastructure required by SEA athletes.

The genesis of SEA lies in five campus suicides between September 2022 and April 2023. Looking for a solution to the crisis, the administration, among other steps, conducted blood tests.

Prof Kamakoti had told The Indian Express recently, “Some of our students did not have Vitamin D at all. They never saw the sun because they were always studying… So last year, we launched SEA. We have 34 seats — 17 gender-neutral and 17 for women. My message is, ‘Go and play, and you will still have a chance to get into IIT-Madras’.”

To qualify for admission under SEA, candidates should have won at least one medal at a national or international event in a sport recognised by federations under the union sport ministry in the last four years, scored at least 75% in their Class 12 board exams and cleared the JEE (Advanced) test. Instead of applying through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority portal, they register on a website operated by IIT-Madras.

The qualified applicants are then ranked as per the Sports Rank List (SRL) and the “prestige” of a competition. SRL is a point system, under which an international gold medal means 100 extra points and 35 points for a national gold medal. A competition’s prestige means that an international event should include participation by at least six nations and by 50% of states in a national event. In case of a tie, the candidate with higher international points is given preference.

The Indian Express spoke to four of five students who got admission to IIT-Madras last year under SEA. A part of their institute’s teams, they say they practise in the evening since their classes start at 8 am.

Though lawn tennis is not a popular sport in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool, Vangala’s father, a fan of the game, made his then 7-year-old son take it up to limit his screen time.

Teased by friends who found lawn tennis “expensive and difficult”, Vangala’s introduction to lawn tennis was “not easy”. Then there was his first match when he was in Class 4. “I lost the first round and cried bitterly. After that, I practised hard. In Class 6, I played my second professional match and won,” says Vangala.

He adds, “I wish all IITs had this initiative. Sports are great for one’s mental health. Besides, sportsmanship teaches resilience.”

Delhi’s Prabhav Gupta, 18, a national-level table tennis player, is pursuing the same course as Vangala at IIT-Madras.

“I have been playing table tennis since I was six. I played for fun at first. Soon, it turned into a passion. I even competed at the state level. After I became the number two player in Delhi, I started competing professionally,” he says.

During the pandemic, Prabhav says he could not play table tennis for three months. “I spent all my time studying and developed an interest in science. But balancing sports and studies was tough, especially in Class 12.”

And now, Prabhav is now pursuing two of his dreams: studying AI, particularly in applications related to sports, at IIT and playing table tennis. “My favourite spot on campus is the table tennis hall in the sports complex. I practise there daily,” he says.

SEA came as a lifeline for Aryaman Mandal, 19, a water polo player from West Bengal’s Midnapore. Diagnosed with a breathing problem at the age of three, he says his doctor recommended swimming as a remedy. But it wasn’t until Aryaman joined water polo that he discovered his true potential. In 2022, he was on the state team that bagged a gold medal at a national tournament.

Pursuing BTech in computer science and engineering at IIT-Madras now, Aryaman says, “Since I could not stop swimming completely, I prepared for JEE during the last few months. It was the best day of my life when I learnt that I was going to join IIT-Madras. Water polo is an underrated sport in India but I hope to represent the country in the sport at the Olympics.”

Delhi’s Nandini Jain, 18, a national-level squash player, is pursuing the same course as Aryaman at IIT-Madras. Nandini says she decided to try out the sport on a suggestion by her father, a squash player.

“I realised I had potential in squash the moment I stepped onto the court. The sound of the ball hitting the wall sparked something in me,” she says.

Calling squash “a symbol of resilience”, Nandini adds, “Continuing my training without the constant pressure of choosing between squash and academics was a godsend.”

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