New Delhi: As the nation celebrated Diwali, Team India created history by winning One Silver (Mohit Dudeja), One Bronze (Kiran Sudhakar) and Nine Medallion of Excellence at the 44th WorldSkills competition concluded in Abu Dhabi yesterday. This is India’s best performance since it started participating at these competitions in 2007. The Indian team was competing with candidates from 59 other WorldSkills member countries.
- Silver Medal in Patisserie and Confectionary (Mohit Dudeja) and Bronze Medal in Prototype Modelling (Kiran Sudhakar)
- 9 Medallions for Excellence across key skills; A total of 11 Medals and Medallions to Team India
- 1300+ candidates participated across 59 countries competing across 51 skills
- 28 candidates participated in 26 trades from Team India in Abu Dhabi
Mohit Dudeja won a silver for Patisserie and Confectionery whereas Kiran bagged a bronze for Prototype Modelling. Nine Medallions for Excellence were won in trades/skills like mechatronics, brick-laying, restaurant service, automobile technology, jewellery, graphic design technology, mobile robotics, beauty therapy and car painting. With winners being presented medals at a glittering closing ceremony on the day of Deepawali, Indian participants and winners have truly made the Festival of Lights sparkle for the country! Mohit Dudeja also won the “Best of Nation” award for receiving the highest marks among the India Contingent.
| S. No. | Winner | Trade/Skill | Award | Competing countries | States |
| 1 | Mohit Dudeja | Patisserie & Confectionery | Silver Medal & Best of Nation | Scored above China, Switzerland, Canada, Korea and UK | Delhi |
| 2 | Kiran | Prototype Modeling | Bronze Medal | Scored better than Brazil, Russia, Germany and Switzerland | Karnataka |
| 3 | Anant Kumar & Varun Gowda | Mechatronics | Medallion of Excellence | Scored above UK, Korea, Germany, France, USA, Singapore | Karnataka |
| 4 | Rohim Momin | Bricklaying | Medallion of Excellence | Scored better than France, UK, Denmark, Canada, USA | West Bengal |
| 5 | Samarth Goudar & Vibhor Meshram | Mobile Robotics | Medallion of Excellence | Scores better than Singapore, Germany, Brazil | Maharashtra |
| 6 | Asraf jamal | Jewelry | Medallion of Excellence | Scored better than Japan, Portugal Sweden | West Bengal |
| 7 | Karishma Gupta | Beauty Therapy | Medallion of Excellence | 6th of 29 competitors. Scores above France, Switzerland, Singapore, Germany, Japan | Maharashtra |
| 8 | Aditya Rathore | Automobile Technology | Medallion of Excellence | Scores above USA, Sweden, Netherlands | Uttar Pradesh |
| 9 | Karan Dhaliwal | Restaurant Service | Medallion of Excellence | Above France, Singapore, China, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden | Delhi |
| 10 | Shahad | Car Painting | Medallion of Excellence | Above Canada, New Zealand | Kerala |
| 11 | Simoul Alva | Graphic Design | Medallion of Excellence | Above Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, Japan and Hongkong | Maharashtra |
Shahad Shahida Manzil came 3rd in 3M Sustainability Challenge for optimal utilization of paint during the Car Painting competition.
1,300 young people from 59 WorldSkills Member countries and regions showcased their talent across 51 skills competitions, between 15-18 October. This was the first time that the WorldSkills Competition has been held in the Middle East and North Africa region. A young team of 28 participants in 26 skill categories represented India this year led by, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the guidance of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
Some of the Indian Experts who trained the competitors in their respective skills, were also elected to perform following responsibilities at the next WorldSkills competition scheduled in 2019 at Kazan, Russia.
| Skill | Position | Name |
| Plastic Die Engineering | Chief Expert | Mallinathan Puthukkudi |
| Prototype Modeling | Deputy Chief Expert | Bhaskar Singh |
| Hair Dressing | Deputy Chief Expert | Samantha Kochar |
| Autobody Repair | Deputy Chief Expert | Dhaval Rajput |
Chirag Goel, who represent India at the WorldSkills competition in 2015 has yet again been chosen as one of nine Champions Trust representatives who promotes World Skills Competition all across the world. Champions Trust is a group of Champions working to help bridge the gap between Champions and WorldSkills once the competition is over.
Congratulating Team India on their win, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “It has been an incredible and by far, the best performance by the Indian Team since we began participating in WorldSkill International Competition! This Diwali has really been special. It is an important day in the skills calendar for India and a big moment of pride for our country. My hearty congratulations to the Indian Team on their exceptional performance at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi and bringing laurels to the nation. Skills have the power to transform individual life, power to change society and power to change the world and we believe skills will make the New India of our dreams.”
“Platforms like WorldSkills help us make skills aspirational for the youth of our country. As a token of recognition and to encourage more youth to take up skills, we would be awarding cash rewards to the winning candidates who have brought laurels to the country. The country will continue to invest in training and education, as part of a strong commitment to youth development, which is a fundamental aspect of the India Vision 2022,” Shri Pradhan added.
Congratulating team India, Shri Rajesh Agrawal , Official delegate India for WorldSkills 2017 said, “We are delighted to see Team India bringing home a Silver Medal, a Bronze Medal and 9 Medallions for Excellence from WorldSkills 2017, Abu Dhabi. The country should take great inspiration from the grit, the confidence and the determination with which the young team has performed at the Olympic of Skills and proved their mettle against countries like China, Russia, Korea, Japan, Brazil. I thank all individuals and corporates who have made this recognition possible for Team India and for the country. Our preparation for the next WorldSkills will begin soon and I encourage more and more youth to participate and have the honour to represent the country at such international levels.”
Commenting on the occasion, Manish Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) said, “Big congratulations to all our champions and our heartfelt thanks to them for adding to our festivities and celebrations! We have yet again proved the potential and passion that our nation’s youth has. We are confident that our champions will inspire others to opt for vocational training as the mainstream career option. The competition has provided a platform to benchmark our skills against the best in the world. After witnessing the current accolades, we are certain that we will only get better and more efficient with time. We would also like to thank industry bodies such as CII, FICCI, CREDAI, Industry Partnership and Sector Skill Councils for their support in bringing this victory home.”
About WorldSkills India:
WorldSkills India is an initiative of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), which has been leading India’s participation at WorldSkills International competitions since 2011. This was done to create an aspiration around the pursuit of skills training in our country and benchmark the skillsets of our youth against their counterparts in other parts of the world.
