England Sports Stars Back British Asian Sports Stars ahead of London 2012

England sports stars Isa Guha and Rajiv Ouseph are hoping to inspire more ethnic minority sports people to represent their country on the global stage in the lead up to London 2012, as new brand ambassadors for the Lebara British Asian Sports Awards.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the awards, Isa, the first British Asian female cricketer to play for England and Rajiv, currently ranked number one singles badminton player in the country, today flew the flag for Great Britain outside the Olympic Stadium. They will now join WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan as ambassadors for BASA, the biggest and only awards ceremony of its kind to recognise and celebrate amateur and semi-professional sporting talent from the South Asian community in the UK.

Amir, Isa and Rajiv have long been recognised by the South Asian community as world class British sporting personalities for their groundbreaking achievements on the global stage. Isa played an integral part for the 2009 women’s Ashes winning side against Australia, and recently missed out on retaining the famous urn Down Under.

Rajiv was amongst the biggest English performers at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, bringing home a Silver medal. Amir Khan, currently training for his defence of the title against Paul McCloskey, was given the accolade of ‘Fight of the Year’ for his defeat of Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas last year.

As ambassadors for the awards and in the lead up to London 2012, they hope to inspire and motivate a new generation of sporting talent who dream of representing England on the international stage. Isa said, “BASA has continually been behind my development as an England cricketer, which last year culminated in me winning the coveted British Asian Sports Personality of the Year. “I’m incredibly proud to be asked to be an ambassador and with London 2012 around the corner, there is no better place to make the announcement than at the Olympic Stadium”

Rajiv added, “London 2012 is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and as a sportsman, there is no greater event than the Olympics. “The Olympic Stadium is an iconic symbol of hope for future sports stars and Isa and I are here to remind the BASA finalists that they can go on to represent their country, regardless of their age, gender or religion.”

The winners will be announced at the 10^th annual event, which will take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on Saturday 5^th March 2011.