Here's a chance for budding athletes of Dhanbad to get selected in the mega sports academies in Hotwar, Ranchi.

More than 2,000 students from different schools in coal town appeared for the selection trials conducted by Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society (JSSPS), a joint venture between the state government and Central Coalfields Limited, at the ISM Lower Ground on Wednesday.

Candidates like Anchal Kumari and Kumkum Kumari, both Class III students of a school in Gomoh, have come all the way to ISM from their villages along with their parents to take part in the physical test.

A total of 50 candidates, within the age limit of eight-and-half to 10 years, will be selected from each of the 24 districts. They will compete in the second phase of the selection trials scheduled at the mega sports complex in Hotwar from March 16 to March 20.

Finally 100 selected candidates (70 boys and 30 girls) will be groomed into prospective students for the Hotwar sports university.

A 16-member team of JSSPS, led by senior personnel officer Ajay Mukul Toppo who arrived here from Ranchi, conducted the selection trials. Dev Kumar Verma, deputy manager (finance) of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) was also present at the event.

Divulging details, Verma said, "A total of 800 children have applied for the test online, while the rest registered offline through various centres of BCCL.

Eight kinds of tests, including height measurement, vertical jump, 30-metre flying start, standing long jump, 6x10m run etc, were conducted. It took around 40 minutes to complete the trials of each students."

A similar test will be conducted at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Jealgora, Dhanbad, on Thursday.

The next selection trials will be held in Bokaro and Gumla on February 12, Jamtara and Lohardaga on February 16, Deoghar and Palamau on February 20, Dumka and Latehar on February 24, Pakur and Garhwa on February 28, Godda and Chatra on March 4, Sahebganj and Ranchi on March 8.