India’s star golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Diksha Dagar will get help from the Sports Ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) to prepare for the Paris Olympics.
The Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell, in a meeting on Thursday, decided to move Sharma, who is ranked 46th in the men’s Olympic golf rankings, from the Topps ‘Development’ group to the main group.
Asian Games silver medalist and 11-time Asian Tour champion Gaganjit Bhullar was directly included in the Topps core group due to his recent form. He is ranked 52nd in OGR.
Shubhankar had requested financial assistance for nine international tournaments and two major tournaments (US Open and British Open), which have been approved.
Along with this, the 27-year-old Shubhankar will be guided by coach JC Grewal in the next five tournaments. It will also help Shubhankar to appoint a physiotherapist and dietician.
Diksha, who is ranked 39th in the Women’s OGER, will be financially supported to train at Le Golf National, the Olympic venue, in addition to nine international events on the Women’s European Tour.
The MOC has also accepted the demands of sprinter Priyanka Goswami, and veteran tennis players Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula.
To prepare for the Paris Games, Priyanka will train for 11 days in Turkey, 11 days in Poland and 15 days in Portugal. Apart from 17 days of sea level training in France, she will also undergo 30 days of high-altitude training in Switzerland before the Games.
Apart from Sharath’s equipment, shoes and supplements, the proposal to hire a nutritionist for the Paris Games has also been approved.
While Manika had requested ‘sparring partner’ Kirill Barabanov to participate in the WTT Saudi Smash in Jeddah from May 1 to 11, Srija requested to retain personal trainer Somnath Ghosh.
The MOC also approved swimmer Srihari Nataraja’s request for financial assistance for participation, training camp and ‘recovery’ facilities at the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championships 2024 in Kuala Lumpur from April 21 to 29, leading up to the Paris Games.
The MoC also approved the proposals for para archer Rakesh Kumar’s wheelchair expenses and para athlete Dilip M Gavit’s expert assistance in preparing for the Paralympic Games.
