Actors Who Excelled As Players

Nowadays people are extremely talented and are excelling in multiple fields. Here are few Tollywood actors who showed their talent as sportspersons before entering the film industry.

Rakul Preet Singh is a professional golf player and even now she plays golf during her free time. Speaking about it she said, “We used to be in Delhi during my childhood. As I stayed in army quarters, it had many golf courts. I started playing reluctantly even as my father encouraged. But slowly I developed interest and became an addict. I participated in many competitions at school and then also played at the national level and won many medals. Thus in Inter, I became school sports captain. Even now I play golf weekly once”.

Sudheer Babu who used to be a national level badminton player said, “Since childhood I love playing badminton. I got selected for the SAI (Sports Authority of India) scholarship and continued my education staying in the hostel. To pursue engineering, I went to Bengaluru. There I used to train in Prakash Padukone’s academy along with Pullela Gopichand. Both used to play singles and doubles. I was the AP state champion at junior level and he was the state champion at senior level. I moved away from badminton as I entered films. Now once again I entered the badminton court as I am doing Pullela Gopichand’s biopic”

Naga Shaurya said, “I used to like sports a lot more than studies. That was the reason why I dreamed of doing a sports based entertainer after becoming a hero. My 20th film is based on archery. I am training hard to get the physique and the tennis I played during my childhood is helping me a lot. During school I used to play tennis very well and teachers used to encourage me a lot. This helped me to participate at the national level. Even after becoming a hero, I am playing the sport out of love”.

Avasarala Srinivas said, “Rocket Ball which is popular in countries like USA, Japan, Korea and Canada is an unknown entity in India. I developed interest when I stayed in USA. I used to train in the sport from 4AM to 8AM and after sometime I represented Oklahama Rocket Ball association and participated at the national level. Once I landed in India to do an acting course, I am missing people who can play rocket ball with me. I participated in Asian Championship in Rocket Ball in Seol, South Korea. I won a gold medal earlier in one tournament. Now I am one of the members in our Country’s Rocket Ball Association Board of Directors.”

Ritika Singh said, “I appeared as a kickboxer in Guru and I am a boxer in real life. I am an expert even in martial arts. My father has trained me in these sports since my childhood. I won a medal at Asian Indoor Games in 2009. Seeing me there, Sudha Kongara cast me in Sala Khadoos, Guru in three languages. I won three national awards for my performance in each of the languages. Though I am doing films in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, I did not leave the sport.”