Houston, we have a talent

While most girls her age would prefer posters of Justin Bieber or Ranbir Kapoor adorning their bedroom walls, her object of affection instead is a 6'6" tall basketball star from a land far away. And Kobe Bryant's influence in 12-year-old Anshika Kanojia's life is not restricted to the cut-out of him that inhabits her residence. The NBA superstar is everything that the young lass from Andheri aims to be some day—at any level she manages to graduate to anyway. And hardly a day has passed in the last two years, that Anshika hasn't boasted about her role model's latest achievements to her friends.

Anshika's daily schedule, one that includes among other things dancing and drawing classes, keeps the little busybee on her toes constantly. But whatever spare time she does find is spent in front of the television, cheering on her beloved Los Angeles Lakers. And while the NBA is not a topic of discussion you would expect most 12-year-olds from the city to indulge in, it's never too far when Anshika and her posse get together in school everyday.

"I love the Lakers and Kobe. Not to forget Pau Gasol. I have my set of friends who are well-versed with the NBA, and like me also love playing basketball. And I never tire while talking about my Lakers," says Anshika.

And it only seems deserved that her beloved sport has provided the youngster from Andheri with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up-close and personal with her NBA heroes when she travels next year to Houston for the All-Star Weekend. Anshika won the all-expense paid trip to the USA recently after she ended up as the winner of the Junior WNBA National Skills Challenge in Delhi. There, at the Thyagaraj Stadium, she overcame a stiff challenge from close to 25 other girls her age, finishing eventually with a winning time of 35.26 seconds to complete her skill sets. "There were a number of timed challenges, which included dribbling, passing and shooting. I must have completed some 100 lay-ups, along with an equal number of chest-passes and overhead passes. And I was totally over the moon when my timing ended up being the best of the lot," explains Anshika. She is quick to admit though that the challenges were no child's play, and her success has come as a result of a really focused training program that the 5' 4" tall hoopster has stuck with religiously. And Anshika also had a point to prove this time, especially after she'd failed to make it past the Mumbai leg of the Skills Challenge last year.

... contd.

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