Jalandhar teenager gets selected for NBA

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Jalandhar, July 21

Tajinderbir Singh, a local teenaged boy, will turn 15 next month, but the celebrations have already started, for he has made it to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

A happy Tajinderbir said it didn’t happen overnight. “I started taking training at the PAP Basketball wing around three years ago. I did not get into sports just because it was my hobby, but because I wanted to achieve something big. I was always working towards this,” he said.

When asked how did he celebrate the big achievement. “We partied hard,” came a prompt reply. “My birthday is next month and there is a possibility that I won’t be here with my family as I would be going to the NBA for further training, so, there was a grand celebration,” he shared. Tajinderbir’s father is a businessman and his elder brother had also been a basketball player. “I am glad that I have made them proud,” he said.

This young and promising player also shared that he never had any inclination towards doing any other thing. His focus always remained on basketball. “I always wanted to represent India at the national level,” Tajinderbir said.

Inspector Gurkirpal Singh, who started training the promising youngster three years ago, said: “I knew Tajinderbir would be the best. But reaching at this stage at such a young age and so early is something even I had not imagined.”

Bhupinder Singh, an assistant coach at PAP, provided initial training to Tajinderbir.

Last year too, a girl from Punjab had made her parents proud. Harsimran Kaur was the only player from Punjab who had attended the global camp by the NBA Academy and the National Collegiate Athletics Association.