City boy to participate in Special Olympics

MADURAI: It was a happy occasion at Bethshan Special School at Sikkandarchavadi in Madurai, as one of their students, D Muthukumar, a volleyball player will represent India in the Special Olympics to be held in Los Angeles. The boy was facilitated in his school premises on Tuesday.
Muthukumar, 19, was diagnosed with mild retardation after joining regular school.He was given admission in Bethshan School and cleared SSLC under regular syllabus with the help of a scribe.
According to his school sources, he was also given computer training. However, his talent in volleyball took him to great heights.
Muthukumar is one among the 281 special athletes and sportspersons, who will participate in the summer Special Olympics, which will be held from July 22 to August 2 at the Unites States. Totally, 7000 athletes from various countries will participate in the big game.
The founder and coordinator of the school, A Jayapaul said they discovered Muthukumar's talent and groomed it after he joined their school. He secured a place in state team after participating in the state-level matches in Trichy.
He added Muthukumar was selected as a player in a temporary team in the national team selections at Gujarat in 2013. During the selection matches held in Hyderabad, last September, he proved his mettle and secured a permanent place in the national team. He underwent a series of training camps in the last few months at Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.
Pugalagiri Vadamalayan of Vadamalayan Hospitals, Ramesh Rajan, chairman of PT Rajan memorial trust, district sports officer, Murugan took part in the function and appreciated him. Muthukumar's friends and students from his school wished him success and staged a couple of cultural programme to honour him.