The Indian Premier League (IPL) revolutionized sports in India, inspiring the creation of leagues in badminton, volleyball, and handball. One name has been instrumental in this transformation—Kankanala Abhishek Reddy. A passionate sports enthusiast from Karimnagar, Abhishek has played a pivotal role in uplifting these sports, particularly for Telugu athletes. His latest venture, ‘Inde Racing,’ India’s first official bike racing team, has placed the country on the global motorsports map with a groundbreaking debut performance. Now Abhishek is making his mark in the sports world. Let’s hear his story in his own words:
“My hometown is Huzurabad, Karimnagar district. My mother, Vijaya Reddy, was the first woman president of the United Andhra Pradesh Bar Council. My father, Bhagwan Reddy, is also a lawyer. I married Ragini, a girl from Visakhapatnam. We have two children. I completed my primary education in Karimnagar, Warangal, and Nellore, and higher education in Canada and the USA. I was interested in sports as a child, but I wasn’t sure about a career in sports, so I took a different path. After going abroad, I fully understood the importance and potential of sports and the opportunities to pursue it as a career. I realized that, like me, many people in the country were interested in sports but didn’t have the right platforms to showcase their talent. While I was running a logistics company and living a comfortable life, my childhood passion for sports made me step into the sports industry. I learned that the Bangalore Blasters team in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), owned by Sachin Tendulkar and Nimmagadda Prasad, was up for sale. In 2018, I collaborated with Slash company to buy the team and rename it the Bangalore Raptors. This team, which had been around since 2013, had never won a title. After we took over, we made them PBL champions for two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020. We made Telugu shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth as captains, encouraged Telugites, and achieved good results. In the Prime Volleyball League (PVL), which started in 2018, we bought the Black Hawks Hyderabad team in 2021 and renamed it “Hyderabad Black Hawks.” Tollywood Actor Vijay Deverakonda also has a stake in this team. This team, which had never even reached the knockout stage, reached the semifinals for the first time in 2022 after we took over and finished third. The following year, we acquired the Telugu Talons team in the Premier Handball League (PHL) and made it reach the semifinals in the first season itself, finishing third. Last year, our “Inde racing team” shocked renowned teams in its first season and achieved a podium finish.
Volleyball Court in Every Mandal
Sports clubs are more common abroad. They serve as a good platform for rural and urban athletes to prove their talent. But in India, athletes are not recognized until they reach the national level. In this process, many talented people leave sports without even crossing the state level and go into other fields to earn a living. So, we need to create a system to strengthen the sports sector from the rural level. To achieve this goal, we are initially experimenting with volleyball. We have set a target of setting up a volleyball court in every mandal in the Telugu states. We are planning to start at least three courts in each constituency at a cost of Rs. 15 lakhs per constituency. In the first phase, we are going to undertake this program as a pilot project in Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, and Visakhapatnam. In these centers, we plan to provide quality training along with the creation of infrastructure. Our ultimate goal is to identify those who perform well in these feeder centers and provide better training to them at the ‘KSG’ academy in Hyderabad and make them international players. We will make them play with international club teams, and if they prove their mettle at the national and international levels, along with the player, the sport will also gain popularity without knowing it.
India’s First Bike Racing Team
There are over 300 million bikes in the country. For the past four years, about 18 million new bikes have been hitting the roads every year. Yet, India did not have an official bike racing team until now. Noticing this, we introduced a bike racing team, ‘Inde Racing’, to the world last year with the slogan ‘Boldly Indian’. In its first attempt, the Boldly Indian team secured a third position and achieved a podium finish in the FIM E-Explorer World Cup, which conducts electric bike races. The Inde team racers scored 479 points in four rounds and secured the third position in the competition held in Switzerland last November. The renowned Bonell and Honda racing teams secured the first two positions. These two teams spend around Rs. 150 to Rs. 180 crores annually for bike racing. Their automobile technology, riders, and bikes are unimaginable. The Inde racing team, which competed with such top teams, had a budget of only Rs. 16 crores. We prepared only three bikes for this race, while the top teams had more than 10 bikes ready. Including the riders, our staff was only 5-6 members. The other teams have more than 30 people. Achieving a podium finish while competing with such top teams, that too in their first year, is no ordinary feat for the “Inde Racing” team.
Bikes Damaged the Day Before the Race
Just before the race, two of our three bikes were damaged while practicing. There was only one bike left. There was not enough time to repair the damaged bikes. The race was the next morning. The racers were worried about how to enter the race with a single bike. We contacted the company that made our bikes immediately and got information that there was a racing rider near the circuit and that we could talk to him and make the bike race-ready with some small repairs. We rushed to him, gave him some money, and got the bike ready for the race. We also stayed in a university hostel instead of staying at an expensive hotel like the other teams. We talked with the university authorities and got permission to stay at their hostel. We told the university students that the race was happening near and asked them to support our team. It was refreshing to see that they all came to the race and supported the ‘Inde Racing’ team.
Youth Interest in Racing
Telugu youth have a good interest in bike racing. We see them using bikes from the intermediate (equal to Class 11) level itself. They tackle terrible traffic with unimaginable skills. They do various bike stunts without regard for their safety. Instead of misusing their energy, enthusiasm, and talent on ordinary roads, they have the opportunity to become global stars if they represent India through “Inde Racing.” Similarly, Telugu youth play volleyball and handball on mud and sand in villages. If such people are made to play on the mat in an indoor stadium with international standards, they will create wonders. If it is broadcast live on TV, the number of viewers and the popularity will also increase.
Sports Eco-System Should Be Strengthened
India has a population over 100 crores, but if we take a look at the history of India in the Olympics, there are only a handful of successful athletes like PT Usha, Karanam Malleswari, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, and Neeraj Chopra. There are many more talented athletes in the country. But the system, which has to identify their talent, give them proper training, and make them international-level athletes, is lacking. In the last ten years, this situation saw a little change. The basic infrastructure for all sports should be improved, just like cricket. If sports organizations and the companies that promote them grow further, the sports ecosystem in the country will be strengthened. The cooperation from the central and state governments is very important to achieve this.
Fan Base is Important
Fan base is very important for any sport. Without fans, no sport will survive. If we look at cricket, from Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev to Shubman Gill and Yashaswi Jaiswal, the game keeps producing stars. So, even after Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli (T20 format), and others retire, cricket’s popularity has not diminished in any way. Shuttler PV Sindhu and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra also became stars as soon as they won medals in the Olympics. In the same way, I am trying to increase the popularity of motor sports in the country through Inde Racing, handball with Telugu Talons, and volleyball with Hyderabad Black Hawks in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Cricket is a non-Olympic sport played by only a few countries. Volleyball and handball are Olympic sports played by over a hundred countries. If Telugu people and Indians excel in such sports, the country’s Olympic medals will increase. In our country, sports unite everyone beyond caste, religion, and class. I believe that if such a sports sector is strengthened, along with giving strong competition to the leading countries in prestigious events like the Olympics, equality and fraternity will also increase in our country,” said Abhishek Reddy.
For more information please follow:
https://www.kankanalasports.com/
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