AU Bano Champion 3rd state-level tournament’s 1st phase concludes with 600 athletes at Jhunjhunu
Jhunjhunu, January 30, 2025: AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), India's largest SFB, yesterday concluded the first phase of its AU Bano Champion 3rd State-level tournament, held at Gomti Devi College, Baragaon, Jhunjhunu on 28th & 29th January 2025. The event witnessed participation of over 600 athletes competing across volleyball, throwball and Kabaddi along with over 300 coaches, volunteers and officials.
Launched in October 2021, the AU Bano Champion program is a pioneering CSR sports initiative of AU Small Finance Bank, with the aim to provide guided sports training to rural youth, in sports such as throwball, kabaddi, football, athletics, wushu, boxing and volleyball.
Along with training athletes at grassroots, AU Bano Champion consistently invests in the training and development of its coaches to keep them abreast with the latest techniques, training methods and nutrition knowledge to support the athletes in an optimal manner. Bano Champion has garnered support from various sectors, including partnerships with sectoral experts, association bodies, and the government. Over the years, AU Bano Champion has produced over 55 national level athletes.
The opening ceremony of the ‘Bano Champion’ tournament began with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by the Chief Guest of the event Shree Rajendra Singh Shekawat, Senior IAS, Shree Rajveer Singh, Deputy S.P- Nawalgarh, Mr. Pardeep Narwal, International Kabaddi Player (Indian team member), World Cup & Asian Kabaddi Championship- Gold Medallist and Mr. Bintu Narwal, Pro Kabaddi League- Patna Pilots, UP Yodha.
At the 3rd state level tournament, winners were:
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Elaborating on this initiative, Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, Founder, MD & CEO, AU Small Finance Bank, said, “My heartiest congratulations to the winners of AU Bano Champion 3rd State Level Tournament and I wish them continued success in their sports careers. We are proud to witness the sporting glory of these athletes which is a testament of our sincere efforts to bring Badlaav in the lives of rural youth by fostering an organised approach for developing discipline, instilling leadership skills, and building character. Since inception, AU Bano Champion program has closely monitored the progress of the enrolled kids & youth and nurtured them on this journey from Maidaan se Manzil Tak. The program has remarkably cultivated over 55 National Level players, well-groomed and trained under our strategic & focussed initiative. AU Bano Champion is yet another step by AU Small Finance Bank to contribute towards uplifting the community, developing a culture of sports at grassroots and helping sports enthusiasts to bring laurels for their state.”
On this occasion, Shree Rajendra Singh Shekawat, Senior IAS Officer said, “I want to congratulate all the winners and participants. Seeing these 600 sports enthusiasts participating across 2 days with their utmost dedication and spirit is a proud moment and a significant step towards building a sports-friendly India. It is inspiring to witness a corporate entity like AU Small Finance Bank stepping forward to promote this cause and empower youth from remote areas to take up sports in a systematic way. I am honoured to be part of this occasion and extend my congratulations to AU Small Finance Bank on a successful third season of the AU Bano Champion State-Level Tournament. I am confident we will see many of these young athletes shining on national platforms in the future.”
In addition to Bano Champion, AU SFB, through its CSR arm, AU Foundation, is actively engaged in two other focus areas, Skill Development and Women Empowerment.
About AU Small Finance Bank
AU Small Finance Bank Limited (AU SFB) is a scheduled commercial bank and has established itself as the largest SFB in India since starting its banking journey in April 2017. Established in 1996 by Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, a first-generation entrepreneur, AU SFB boasts a 29 years-legacy with deep understanding of the rural and semi-urban markets and customer segments. The Bank operates a sustainable business model that facilitates credit to the unserved and underserved retail and MSME customer segments while providing complete banking solutions to its deposit and branch banking customers. As a tech-led Bank, AU has a strong digital presence with innovative products and services like 24X7 video banking, credit cards, personal loans, UPI QRs, payments, merchant lending, WhatsApp Banking, Chatbots etc. and its digital bank application AU0101 remains among the higher rated banking apps in India.
The Bank operates from 2,400 banking touchpoints across 21 States & 4 Union Territories serving 1.1 Cr+ customers with an employee base of 49,000+ employees. As on 31st December’24, Bank has a Shareholders Funds of ₹16,602 Cr, Deposit base of ₹1,12,260 Cr, Total Loan Portfolio of ₹1,08,921 Cr and a Balance sheet size of ₹1.43 Lac Cr+. AU SFB enjoys the trust of marquee investors and is listed at both NSE and BSE. It has consistently maintained high external credit Rating and is presently rated ‘AA/Stable’ by CRISIL Ratings, ICRA Ltd., CARE Ratings and India Ratings, while the Bank’s FD is rated ‘AA+/Stable’ from CRISIL Ratings.
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