SAI’s Mission Olympic Cell Clears Proposals Worth Rs. 70 Lakh

In order to motivate players to win more and more medals in the Olympics, the Sports Authority of India’s Mission Olympic Cell during its review meeting cleared monetary applications of over 70 lakhs, along with the inclusion of wrestler Ravi Dahiya in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

While Ravi was rewarded for his bronze medal finish at the World Championships, Sakshi Malik and Ragala Venkat Rahul were excluded from TOPS.

In the meeting, the National Rifle Association of India, the Table Tennis Federation of India and the Indian Weightlifting Federation made public their action plan on how they are planning to approach the 2020, 2024 and 2028 Olympics.

A release by SAI suggested that the training and competition requirements for table tennis players G Sathiyan, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra were accepted.

The application of Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma, HS Prannoy and Sai Praneeth, to pay remunerations of coach Siyadath Ullah and trainer Ganesh, was also honored at the meeting.

The release further claimed that fitness and coaching necessities of female badminton players Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, as well as Chirag Shetty, Pranav Jerry Chopra, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Srikanth was approved by SAI.

SAI did not upset the shooters as Rahi Sarnobat, Anjum Moudgil, Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma, Lakshay Sheoran, Mehuli Ghosh and Anish Bhanwala as their appeal for ammunition necessities was also met with a positive response.

Cycling Federation of India also received a fare amount of attention as it was decided in the meeting to accept proposal of four Indians who will be travelling to New Zealand from December 6-8 to compete at the UCI World Cup.

Wrestlers, who are always the best bet for Olympic medals, were paid attention too as Vinesh Phogat received a green signal to train in Bulgaria for two weeks. Another wrestler Bajrang Punia’s requirement for a strength and conditioning coach was also fulfilled by the committee.