Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya Included in Target Olympic Podium Scheme

New Delhi [India], Oct 4 (ANI): Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday included wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).The wrestler earned an Olympic quota in Men's 57 kg freestyle after winning a bronze medal at the recently concluded World Championships.Wrestler Sakshi Malik who was in the TOPS scheme till the World Championships has not been given an extension.Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul has also been excluded from the TOPS scheme.The TOPS is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to provide assistance to India's top athletes.The scheme's committee has also cleared financial proposals of over Rs. 70 lakhs at their meeting today.Three national federations related to shooting, table tennis, and weightlifting also shared their roadmap for 2020, 2024 and 2028 Olympics with respect to strategy, planning and talent identification.In the meeting, the following financial proposals were cleared related to eight different sports:Athletics: Runner Avinash Sable will get overseas training in Colorado Springs for Men's 3000m steeplechase under Scott Simons for a period of nine months till the Tokyo Olympics.Badminton: The committee has cleared the proposal of Sameer Verma to participate in three international competitions Dutch Open, Macau Open and Korea Masters in October and November, respectively. The committee has also sanctioned the proposal of Saina Nehwal for the financial assistance of her fitness trainer Swaroop Sinha to accompany her for seven international tournaments till December 2019.Shooting: The training, ammunition and competition requirements of seven shooters Anjum Moudgil, Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma, Lakshay Sheoran, Mehuli Ghosh and Anish Bhanwala have been approved by the committee.Para-Badminton: The committee has cleared a combined proposal of five players Pramod Bhagat, Suhas Yathiraj, Manoj Sarkar, Sukant Kadam and Tarun for participation in the Denmark Open Para-Badminton International for a period of eight days in October.Para-Shooting and Para-Athletics: The committee has sanctioned the training and equipment needs of para-shooter Deepender and para-athletes Sharad Kumar and Sandeep Chaudhary.Wrestling: The committee has sanctioned the proposal of Pooja Dhanda and she will be training for a period of one month in her hometown of Hisar under the supervision of coach Fanel Carp.Weightlifting: The committee has sanctioned the proposal of financial assistance towards Mirabai Chanu having a physiotherapist cum masseuse Shivani Bharuka who will attend to her at the National camp till Tokyo Olympics.The Shooting, Weightlifting and Table Tennis federations also shared a preliminary plan for their expectations from the 2020 Olympics as well as charting out their roadmap for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics.The issues that have been put forward include-- anticipated performance at the 2020 Olympics, identifying athletes who can be a part of the core group for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics, developing training bases across the country with the assistance of SAI where athletes can train, also proposed plan for training overseas, coach and support Staff development strategy with the assistance of SAI that can be taken forward into India's preparations for 2024 and 2028 Olympics and presenting a preliminary plan and strategy of converting talent in respective sports into potential medals at 2024 and 2028 Olympics. (ANI)

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